The Road Less Traveled
by cloudsongs
Summary: Two mutants: A runaway hitchhiker, and a solitary, amnesic man with adamantium claws. When both meet, an unlikely bond is made. One full of reluctance, friendship, and love. Beginning of X-1. Rogan. Read and Review!
1. Cage Fighter

A/N: This a re-written version of a story I published a few years ago. I have changed it from first-person to third-person. The plot is also going to be headed in different direction than it was earlier. I am open to suggestions as the story continues so please feel free to share your thoughts! :) Enjoy!

Chapter 1

"This is it." A rough voice broke through her nightmare. She quickly grabbed her duffel bag and hopped out of the truck. She thanked the driver and cut through the grubby parking lot towards the bar. She felt lucky that this truck driver was decent enough to not try anything lecherous around her. Some of the other men she had asked were not as kind a soul as him.

Making sure that the glittering purple scarf that Grandma Ann had given her on her twelfth birthday covered her neck and that the brown leather gloves she stole from her mam was up to her elbows, Marie walked into the bar.

All around her, there were screaming people and various odors. She could look at people and tell that they were not safe to be around. The men –and women, she might add –had a terrible glint in their eyes. They're slurred speech scratched her ears as the putrid smell of alcohol invaded her nostrils.

She noticed, looming almost all the way up to the ceiling, was a cage. The first thing she saw was a couple men dragging another, limp man out of the cage. She watched in horror as the two men left him on the floor while another one came and purposely spilt his beer on him.

She turned her eyes back to the man still inside the cage. The only thing she could see was his strong back, tensed with every muscle ready to attack. They were covered in an array of purple and red bruises. In comparison to the man on the floor, she thought that the man in the cage was a bit smaller but undoubtedly stronger.

"In all my years I have never seen anything like that! Who's next?" the emcee called out. People were still screaming in disapproval. "Are you gonna let 'im walk away with your money?" Shouts erupted from the crowd.

A burly, bald man in the back stood up and yelled, "I'll fight him!" Roars of endorsement followed him. Marie was pushed around a little as the man made his way through the crowd towards the cage. Her body stiffened as it collided with others.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Our savior!"

The man still in the cage held onto the fenced wall of the cage, trying to steady his breathing. Marie tried to get a closer look at the forthcoming fight. The laboring man threw away what seemed to be a shot glass. He held on to the cage.

Three digs from the bell later, the bald man attacked.

Baldy charged ahead, kicked the man on his back, toppling him over to the side, and then threw a punch. The wickedness of the crowd affected her, but she kept it in while they cheered. Baldy continually kicked the man. She pitied the man on the floor –she wondered why he hadn't won the crowd even when he had won.

The man was still on the floor of the cage. Everyone was content in approval. Baldy was ready to throw another punch when suddenly, the man shot his arm out as well, and the two fists collided.

A sickening crack echoed throughout the cage.

Marie held her breath as the entire bar went silent, the sound of the cracked bones still reverberating in their ears. The bruised man had an undistinguishable look on his face. He got up and from the side, she could see his angry grimace as he stalked Baldy as though he was a prey. It no longer looked like a fight for money, but more like a fight for territory.

With a few seconds, Bruised Man had won.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the emcee said again. "Tonight's winner and still undefeated, the Wolverine!" Series of boos and displeasure followed. Wolverine ignored them and took another drink from a shot glass.

* * *

Her heart was beating so hard, she thought the whole bar could hear it. She couldn't control it. How could she? Especially since Wolverine was sitting, drinking beer just five feet away from her. There was also the fact that the bartender already anticipated that she was planning on slipping some cash from the tip jar into her pockets and had given her a look before moving the jar behind him. As if that wasn't enough of a scare.

Wolverine was drinking beer and staring at the table as if he had no reason to cheer for the fact that he had just won a cage tournament. Marie had heard of these tournaments before and was told that most of the time, all the prize money would end being spent at the bar itself by the winner to celebrate the win. Wolverine was not in the mood.

She was almost ashamed to admit that he was somewhat handsome. He was much taller than most men she had seen back home in Mississippi or on her trip here. But of course, he didn't look like any ordinary man. His muscles seemed to bulge and strain from his leather jacket. His gelled dark brown hair drew down to long side burns almost into an untrimmed beard. A very rugged sort of handsome.

Two nondescript television anchors on the television in the corner of the bar began talking about a meeting for the world leaders at the summit. She saw him subtly raise his head when they mentioned "mutants" and she momentarily wondered if he was one or if he was another human who hated mutants. He must have realized he was being watched because he turned to her with a glare. They both glanced back at the television and back at each other, growing delicate suspicions towards one another.

Suddenly, Marie saw Baldy from the cage and another man behind him. Baldy's left eye was rimmed purple, and his lip was split. "I believe you owe me some moey," he said, trying to stady his glare on Wolverine.

"I don't owe you nothin'," Wolverine answered, never taking his eyes off his drink. Marie ddin't think he was too worried about Baldy. She guessed that if he could take him once, his motto was that he could take him twice.

"No man could take a beating like that and show no mark from it!" Baldy protested furiously. He leaned in and whispered something behind Wolverine's ears. It must have not been good because Wolverine turned and muttered something incoherent back to him. Wolverine went back to his drink, but it wasn't long until another wave of assault was brought upon him. Baldy flipped out a knife from his belt, pointed towards Wolverine.

"Hey, watch out!" Marie yelled out.

Everything went too fast for her to even comprehend. In a matter of a second, rows of blades protruded from Wolverine's knuckles, the last one slowly edging until it stopped at the jugular of the now-victim's neck. With the swing of his other arm, the rifle that had been held to the back of his neck by the bartender was cut in half by the knives.

He glanced back and forth from the two threats on either side of him and finally lowered his arms. He began to approach her direction, and Marie was sure that the entire bar could hear her heartbeat now. Was he going to hurt her for witnessing the revelation of his mutation?

But Wolverine just walked past her with one final glare.

The handful of people that were left in the malodorous place were all staring at the empty spot of the mutant. Marie took a deep breath, grabbed her duffel bag, and ran out the same direction as Wolverine.

Outside, she saw Wolverine stand next to the door of a small camper. He was still and staring at his knuckles. Once he went inside, she climbed under a large green tarp next to his motorcycle. She breathed hard and felt the feeling of immense stupidity wash over her. This man was clearly dangerous.

Instead, she ignored the voice of reason and rested her head against the duffel bag. Really, how bad could it possibly be?


	2. Camper

Chapter 2

This time, she woke to two dull jabs at her ribs and the sharp sting of the frosty air. She slowly turned her head, ignoring the pain in her back, to face the intruder, only to be met with the annoyed expression of Wolverine staring back at her.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He was quiet but she could feel the animosity off him.

She climbed out of the tag-along wagon while Wolverine threw out her duffel back onto the road. "I'm sorry," she said, embarrassed and a little scared. "I thought you'd give me a ride."

"Well, you thought wrong," he replied curtly. "I can't help you." He went back to the front of his camper.

A flare of anger licked its way up her body. In the many months that she had been on the road, this was her first mutant. "You can't or you won't?"

"Your pick."

"I saved your life!" What a brute! He didn't even have the compassion to drop her off somewhere safe. The wind laughed at her, pinching her cheeks with the chill. She was surrounded by layers of trees –they were clearly far from any habitable place.

He paused for less than a second. "No you didn't." He waved her off as if she was a fly. He got into his camper and drove off.

A deep sadness grew in her chest. She had hoped he wouldn't notice her under the tarp so that she could be with him. He was the first mutant she had ever met and she didn't feel ready to let him go. She had left her home months ago and hadn't come across a single mutant. From what she observed on television, she had believed mutants were a rampant "issue" in America but on her arduous journey to Canada, all she heard were crickets. She wondered when she'd meet another mutant again.

About fifty yards away, the stopped and she knew she was saved…for now.

* * *

Silence was a key event that took place during the ride. He hadn't said a single arrogant thing since he told her to get in. In fact, he hadn't said a single word period.

She figured he probably meant for it to be a comfortable silence but her fingers curled and itched from the chill and the awkwardness. She felt that she had to say something.

"So…you're a mutant," she said, stating the most obvious fact. She mentally cringed, feeling a bit stupid. As if he didn't know or something.

Wolverine glanced at her. "What of it?" he asked gruffly. His hands were clenched around the steering wheel, fingers rapidly thrumming the worn leather. There was an enormous maroon bruise bleeding across his knuckles. The itching in her fingers grew and her heart beat faster. Maybe he didn't want to…

"Does it hurt? I mean when…um…when they come out?" She traced her own knuckles, grimacing. She didn't know what to call them, but he knew what she meant.

His fingers stopped thrumming the wheel and were completely clenched. His knuckles were white and looked very threatening. "Every time."

His simple answer threw them back into the setting of silence. She observed him again before speaking again. She noticed a chain around his neck.

"Were you in the army?" She eyed the dog tag. "Don't that mean you're in the army?"

She bent her gloved fingers to get some blood flowing. It felt like her bones were turning into ice. She quickly took her leather gloves off after some futile attempts to bring any warmth to them and began to rub her hands together.

Instead of answering her question, he tucked the chain away and turned on the heater. "Here, put your hands up here -." Wolverine reached for her hands to put them closer to the heater. Marie snatched them away from him as she could. "Kid, I'm not gonna hurt you." He rolled his eyes and focused back on the road.

"It's nothing personal," she murmured. "It's just that whenever someone touches my skin, somethin' happens. They get hurt." She waited for some sort of reaction from him – ready for him to stomp on the brakes and kick her out. The many times she avoided the touch of a trucker, she didn't always receive the best treatment as a result.

He gave a long hard look at her bare, pale hands. "Better for both of us then."

She frowned but felt more relaxed. The camper remained on course at a steady pace.

"Got a name, kid?"

She smiled. "Rogue." When she saw his unconfined confusion with a raised eyebrow, she mended. "It's Marie. But then again, what kind of a name is _Wolverine_?" Her heart swelled –when was the last time she said her name out loud?

He shrugged, ignoring her sarcasm. "It's Logan."

"It's nice to meet you, Logan," she said. Her southern accent was becoming more prominent. She still smiled when he gave her no reply.

* * *

Hours into their trip, they had learned a modicum of facts from each other. Logan liked smoking, drinking, and fighting –three things that he had not even said out loud. With cigar butts and whiskey bottles littered around the truck, Marie didn't have to observe too closely to gain this information.

She thought it was a miracle when he said anything at all. He was reluctant to share any personal information like his age or where he was from –but then again, she wasn't ready to share that information with him either.

Marie hoped he'd take a liking to her so that he wouldn't kick her out the next time they stopped in a city. She didn't have a single clue where to go next. She'd made it all the way up to Canada from Mississippi, hoping that she'd find something worthwhile. Nothing was planned at all. Not her mutation. Not his company. She had nowhere else to go if he left her.

"Where are we?" she asked after attempting to get a wink of sleep and failing. The mountainous terrain was similar to the one in Laughlin City.

"We'll be in Canmore in fifteen minutes. We can take a break there," he told her. He leaned across her to the glove compartment and pulled out a cigar and put it on the edge of his lips. She curled her body so that he wouldn't even brush against her. He pulled a lighter from his back pocket and lit it. An orange glow grew obtrusive.

She curled her lips in disgust. The smell of smoke had always given her an awful headache. "You know smoking kills." She nonchalantly played with a loose thread on the sleeve of her coat.

Logan raised an eyebrow and gave her a pointed look. "And?"

"Well…smoking can kill other people indirectly too. With cancer and stuff."

"Listen, kid, if you've got a problem with –" Logan was already changing the gearshifts when he stomped on the brakes.

"No!" Marie yelled out. "I was just sayin'. I don't mind you smoking."

He watched her carefully, her eyes wide, mouth open, ready to protest some more. He took the cigar out of his mouth and twisted the end into his hand. She heard his flesh sear under the heat. When he pulled the cigar away, she watched his skin close up, the redness disappearing. Her eyes were saucers. He reached into the glove compartment again, and she skittered towards her side of the door, getting out a tin that he dropped the cigar in.

He restarted the camper and started back on the road. Marie didn't want to admit it, but she was scared. She didn't want him to throw her out, much less have him angry at her. Despite his odd way of showing it, she appreciated that he did that. It was a side of him that she was glad to see.

* * *

It turned out that they didn't plan on staying in Canmore too long. They stopped at the outskirts of the city for a few minutes to fill up on gas and buy a to-go meal from a the "restaurant" attached to the gas station. The lack of vegetables made her think of how her mama would've disapproved.

Every few minutes, she could feel Logan's eyes on her. But she wasn't stupid enough to mention about when she was supposed to leave. And he didn't bother bringing it up either and for that, she was more than grateful.

About two hours later, they finally parked outside a nasty looking pit stop. The building containing the bathrooms looked as if one wrong move could ring the whole roof over their heads. Thank God her Uncle had gotten drunk every holiday and holed up in the bathroom during family gatherings which taught the children –and some of the adults who didn't bother pulling the man out –to hold their bladder.

As of now, Marie and Wolverine –mostly Marie –were both standing awkwardly at the back of the camper, trying to figure out sleeping arrangements.

The camper was small and smelled of gasoline and alcohol. One look at the man, she could tell he wasn't one to clean up messes himself. He definitely did not seem to be the home improvement sort. Any by one look at his camper, her accusations were proved. There was a small stove to the left with two barrels of gas underneath it. A small cot sat on the right covered with various sheets that weren't as white as they used to be. In front of the cot was a small cooler, filled with possibly a never-ending abundance of beer. The floor was completely filthy, covered in dirt and melted snow.

"Wow," she gasped aloud.

He turned to her. "What?"

She unattractively gwaffed at the sight. "Real homemaker _you_ are, Logan."

"If you prefer the road –," he started, dramatically showing off the cold land surrounding us. "-be my guest."

"Looks cozy," she replied curtly. Marie briefly thought about sleeping in the truck instead but she knew she'd wake up to a crick in her neck and if she decided to lie across the seats, she'd stay awake with the gear shift up her ass.

Wolverine took off his jacket and shirt and threw it to one corner. He was brazenly half-naked and Marie couldn't help but stare. From all those beatings he took from the cage match, he didn't have a single bruise or scratch left on his body. His skin remained even over his large muscles and his lean abdomen. She looked away from his chest –afraid she resembled like a tomato – and focused on the dirt that she was going to sleep on instead. He pulled off the sheets and pillows from his cot and tossed it towards her. He grabbed a bottle of beer from his cooler and they both settled themselves in: him on the cot and her stuck on the dirty floor next to his cot using all the sheets he gave her as a barrier between the filth and herself.

Marie willed for sleep to come to her, but she was wide-awake. She was burning from excitement that entered her body since that morning. She could have blamed all the sugar in her system from their take-out meal but she knew better than that.

"Logan?" she whispered. "Are you awake?"

She heard him shuffling above her and a muffled "no."

"Logan, where were you heading off to? Before I came along, I mean." She waited fearfully for his answer; she hated the idea that she was reminding him that at some point, he'll eventually have to get back on track and go where he needs to go and leave a hitchhiker like her back on the road.

A long silence came from him. All she could hear was their inhales and exhales and the subdued chorus of crickets.

"I have no idea," he said quietly.

Marie lifted her head a little in attempt to see his face. "What do you mean?" she asked, curiously.

"It means, kid, that I got nowhere to go and nowhere to be," he sighed. He glanced down at her for a moment before looking back at the ceiling. A couple of light bulbs hung down from a wire, looking like thick spider webs. He took a beer bottle on the floor near the head of his bed and took a large swig. "Hope you weren't expecting anything," he said dryly.

She exhaled the breath she didn't know she was holding and almost laughed. A flurry of dust from the side of his cot danced around above her. She held her breath until they calmed and fell back on the floor. "Busy man like you looks like he needs to be somewhere." Her mind became content when she heard the gruff laugh above her.

* * *

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! If you have any suggestions, please feel free to share. Also a note: I did not want to write "Ah" for "I" when Rogue spoke. I felt that mentioning she had a southern accent was probably enough to convey that. Let me know what you guys think.


	3. Monster

A/N: Warning: Mentions of rape.

Chapter 3

The next few days followed in the same pattern. They woke up at noon and slept at two in the morning. Food included take-outs (whenever Logan felt like it) and a whole lot of beef jerky. Showers happened every other day in old motels that were known for having prostitutes coming in and thankfully charged by the hour. Marie was scared the first time they stopped at one since the room itself looked like it contained every STD known to man. But she had to get over it if she ever wanted to be clean again. The first motel, Marie had selfishly insisted that Logan take his shower first so that she would be at her cleanest when they left the god forsaken place. She perched on the edge of the single bed gleefully at her trickery also knowing that Logan didn't give it another thought. She heard the squeaky faucets turn and the water spraying into the tub. Marie entertained herself by opening up the bedside drawers. In one drawer, she found pamphlets for mutant eradication and a nudie magazine. Tucked away in one corner was a weathered Bible. She picked it up with her gloved hands and flipped through the yellow pages until she got to some clumped pages, stuck together by –

Marie dropped the book in horror, nearly gagging. _What the fuck!_ She abruptly stood up and paced the room for the remainder of the time instead. Like she did every time they stopped somewhere and Logan was out of her sight, she rummaged through her duffel to make sure it was still there. Her fingers traced the metal exterior searchingly, relief flooding her mind that it was still there. It had taken her a lot of strength –and batting power, she thought fondly of the aluminum bat she brought from home –to acquire the gun from that greasy trucker at a pit stop. After the first few times a man had tried to paw at her, she figured it was time she got one herself. She didn't know if the trucker she had beaten was good man or not but she knew she hadn't injured him too badly. She clearly remembered that he stood up and limped after her.

She quickly shuffled the clothes in her bag when she heard the water turn off. In a few minutes, Logan emerged from the bathroom with droplets falling from the ends of his hair. "All yours," he said grimly. She inhaled when he passed her, the scent of soap wafting off him. Marie entered the bathroom, a large smile stretching her cheeks at the thought of getting a hot shower. Her heart leapt to her throat at the sight of the torrent stains of yellow and black. She didn't find herself emerged in the steam of a fresh shower. She grimaced when she saw the image of herself in the murky mirror pouting. _What did you expect?_

* * *

They never attempted to travel too much every day. Since the truth had been revealed that the neither of them had anywhere to go, a weight had been lifted off their shoulders. Still, most of the conversations they had sourced from her while he just answered whatever he felt like.

He wasn't exactly the hitchhiking buddy she'd dreamed about but she felt that he had softened up to her just a bit. He was…kinder to her. Even offered her the cot some nights. Yet, he remained independent of her, never letting her know anything personal about him. Marie believed her mother would've been very suspicious of him. She supposed everyone in Meridian would have –they were all family: no one kept secrets. Except her, of course.

People around the town knew her well enough to know her hopes and dreams for the future. They knew her as a daughter and as a friend. But only a palm full of people knew about her mutation.

Cody was one of those people.

* * *

"Logan," Marie nearly whined. She scrunched her nose at the smoke that was still wafting to her nose. She had mutely agreed to Logan smoking in the truck as long as he had his window open all the way.

"What do you want, kid?" he asked her, attempting to lean a bit closer to his door while failing to make sure she didn't see his small act of compassion.

Marie felt a bit presumptuous asking but she felt she had to or she'd suffer longer than she ought to. "Can we stop somewhere and get something real to eat?" As good as beef jerky can be for a midnight (technically breakfast with their sleep schedule) snack, eating that after waking up to a growling stomach was enough to make her sick. Especially since they've been on this diet for more than a week.

"There's some food in the bag. Grab me something too, will ya?" he answered, not seeing the obvious problem.

She scoffed and pulled the plastic bag underneath her seat. Inside were at least thirty packets of beef jerky. The other bags behind her seat contained all the torilla chips, Oreos, candy bars, beers, and soda. The first day, she was thrilled at the sight of so much food that would fill her stomach up. Now…well, now she just wanted an apple and some broccoli.

"Yeah, I know," she groaned. "I'm perfectly aware of that." She opened a packet for him and gave it to him. "But can't we just stop and go into a restaurant for a change? I mean, have _good_ food?"

"We're running pretty low on cash, kid. I ain't got time to take you to any fancy places anytime soon."

Marie frowned. "I don't want to go anywhere fancy; I just want to sit down somewhere and have a meal." Her frown deepened. She _was_ being presumptuous. Who was she to make demands to a man she's only known for a week who was kind enough to take her in? And it wasn't like she was having meals in diners that often while she was on her own either. In fact, the last time she sat and ate at a restaurant was a couple weeks after she left home –after that, she had run out of cash. She scowled thinking of why she had gone to Laughlin City in the first place. She glanced at Logan. She didn't just crave the food she used to eat, but the relaxation of enjoying a good meal. A good meal with someone else.

"You must miss them a lot." Logan wasn't someone she'd want to call insensitive, but she hardly thought he was intuitive to pick up on that.

She shook her head. "I don't know." Marie thought about her family a lot –especially her mother. Despite what she'd say to anyone, her mother had been her true friend all her life. She had been the one that bought Marie her world map when Marie mentioned her thoughts of traveling. But that last look she saw….

Marie hoped he'd say something –something about himself that would resonate with how she felt. Something to show that they had some type of bond stronger than a savior-hitchhiker relationship.

But once again, Logan ignored the signs and just sighed. "Hey, kid," he said.

Marie tilted her head.

"I'll take you somewhere nice." He had a sad smile on his face –the first one she'd seen at all –and she really wanted to ask him why. She held back and tried not to ruin the moment.

After a pause, she teased, "You promise?"

"Yeah."

* * *

His promise wasn't full-filled that very day. Or the next. Marie didn't think he forgot or couldn't find any places to take her, but she didn't push him or remind him. She remembered he had said that they were low on cash and probably wouldn't have been able to afford to stop anywhere anyway.

"Kid, we need to stop at a bar today," Logan told her that evening. She nodded. They were in a little town called Maryfield. Marie felt a bit proud to say that was actually smaller than Meridian.

It felt like she hadn't been in a bar so long that she considered it foreign, even though it had only been about a week. Chewey's bar was no longer a regular bar. Cage fighting had found its way into nearly all bars these days. She didn't understand its popularity considering it revolved around a bunch of drunken men beating the living hell out of one another. But if that's what Logan needed to do to earn money, she wouldn't make a peep.

In this bar, there were more women dressed scantily, draped over men at various stage of drunkenness. Marie thought nearly everyone there was intoxicated except maybe the employees, Logan, and her.

A small booth stood in a corner in the back. Logan told her that that was where everyone placed bets.

"Can I place one?" she asked him.

"Yeah, sure," he said, distracted. He handed over a couple twentys. "It's all we got, kid."

She squinted a little, scrutinizing him. "Promise not to lose?"

He actually laughed this time, a low throaty one, that sent shiver down her spine and gave her a pointed look. "I don't lose."

Marie knew that with Logan's mutation (whether that included super strength or not…although his muscular body told another story) there was no way they would lose. Logan headed towards the cage to put his name in. She pulled her green coat tighter and walked to the booth.

A bored looking woman with straggling orange hair sat behind the makeshift, cardboard booth.

"I'd like to make a bet on Wolverine," she said, signing his name on the roster of people that were fighting tonight. She handed the woman the two bills. The woman sighed as if she wanted to be anywhere but here. Marie didn't blame her.

"Are you, or have ever been, or ever will be a mutant?" she asked lazily.

 _Oh, Jesus Christ_.

Marie scoffed and shook her head as though the woman had offended her, and she somewhat had. The woman took her money and Marie headed towards the cage.

Ten minutes later, she stood outside the cage while Wolverine took of his jacket and shirt and tossed them towards her. She was used to seeing him half-naked. Even if this was a regular occurrence, she would probably never actually get used to seeing his body. The way his muscles moved under his skin –the way they tightened when he was tense and prepared. Marie blushed.

She neatly folded his clothes and stood behind a group of people where she still had a good view of him. The emcee this time was a young woman with long, red hair. She wore a yellow and green, skin-tight suit with knee-high leather, high-heeled boots. She looked like she walked straight out of a comic book. The woman waved her arms around as she introduced the fighters. She called Wolverine's name last. Marie could see from where she stood that the woman had winked at him.

Marie rolled her eyes and grumbled a little. She preferred the emcee in Laughlin City.

The first two men to fight were both beefy and equally drunk. The one with the gauge earring had won. One by one, Gauge-Man beat up the other drunken men, treating them like rag dolls and throwing him out of the cage. After the first two people he had taken out with blood splattering on the mat, Marie got familiar with the violence and relaxed a bit.

"This is _my_ cage! _I'm_ the king of this cage!" he yelled out into the crowd.

Marie grimaced. What an embarrassing thing to declare, she thought, especially since he was facing off Wolverine in the next round.

Once Marie looked away from the cage, she searched for Wolverine. He was the next fighter after a short break, so he should be getting ready to step in. Finally, she spotted him at the bar, sitting next to the emcee, taking a shot with her. The emcee gleamed like a doll and placed one hand on his bare arm, and the other on his thigh.

Marie felt a bit annoyed since she was doing what she was supposed to –which was support him and there he was not even taking the match that seriously. She huffed and turned away from them. "It's not fair," she groused to herself. She couldn't answer the logical question in her head: _What's not fair?_

Within a few minutes, Logan was in the cage with Gauge-Man with the emcee outside cheering for him. Marie went towards the bar as the match began to sit at the seat where Wolverine and the emcee had been sitting in earlier. She stared at the tipping jar in front of her. It was a repetition of Laughlin City except this time, she felt truly alone.

Suddenly, she was surrounded by throngs of sweaty people. Sweaty, _wasted_ people ready to get another drink. Marie tried to sneak away from her seat and get lost in the crowd outside the cage again, but luck was not on her side tonight.

"Baby, where you goin'?" a slurred voice called out. Marie tried not to turn to look back and just pushed through the people straight towards the cage. The man didn't get a hint. A thick hand wrapped itself around her arm and yanked her back. She was face-to-face with a sweaty man, the putrid smell of his breath washing over her face.

"Let go, or I'll scream," she said in a low voice.

The man sniggered before pulling something out and holding it to her side. Marie felt a sharp point digging into her skin. "That's what I was goin' for sweetheart."

She desperately looked at the men and women around her, hoping to catch someone's eye but no one paid her any attention. Most of them were already drinking or crying over their wounds. Marie breathed hard as the man dragged her to the back of the bar and out the backdoor, far from the booth she had initially been at and unquestionably far from Wolverine. She struggled against him, but he only kept his threat of the knife closer to her body. Once they were outside, he threw her onto the ground, and kept one foot on her as he wobbled closer with his other foot.

Marie crawled back quickly and kicked his shins. She scrambled to her feet and pulled off one of her gloves and held her hands up.

"Don't you dare fucking touch me." Her voice quivered but she kept her gaze hard and strong on him. She hurriedly glanced around her feet as if it would materialize her duffel bag with her precious weapon. The last couple men who tried this backed down very easily after seeing the gun aimed right at their chests. At least the gun would have been the safer alternative. The man, unforuntely didn't have an option and didn't listen and charged at her, fury written on his face, curses spewing out of his mouth. In an act of defense, she reached out and pushed his face. It didn't take long. Even less time than it took Cody to pass out.

 _Jeremy Smith, aged 37, divorced, two kids, abusive parents…a failure at life._

Watching him lay there with his eyes open in fear –fear of her –she didn't really know who the bad guy was here. But as the images of his life passed through her mind, she saw the image of what he planned to do to her. She saw her body, naked and forced to the ground as he raped her. She saw herself screaming and him having the power to quiet her. She saw anger he would take out on her body. Her resolve drained from her body.

She went back inside without a sound or another look back at the man. She grabbed Wolverine's clothes from the bar and stood outside the cage where she was supposed to.

The crowd was already angry because almost everyone had bet on Gauge-Man. The emcee was holding up Wolverine's hand, cheering his name on. Marie watched Wolverine, trying to focus on the one thing that wouldn't make her scream over what just happened.

Their eyes met and she could see the question in his, but Marie shook her head and gave him a small smile.

"Kid, what's going on?" Logan asked her after collecting their winnings for the night. He split the four rolls of cash into two and closed her hand over her half. Marie felt a twinge of guilt from the happiness in her heart. _Our winnings._ Her smile dropped when he saw his _other_ winning slowly trailing behind them.

"It's nothin'," she told him. She contemplated the woman behind them and sighed. Leaning closer to him, she said, "I'm going to head to the camper. You go celebrate." Marie tilted her head quickly towards the emcee, orientated close by.

Even in the dim lights, she saw the question building in his face. "Not much to celebrate, when we both knew I was going to win." He had a smirk on his face. Marie glowed.

Marie lifted her eyebrows. "Are you sure? You have a pretty lady waiting for you."

She thought he was going to agree and walk away but he surprised her when he nodded, ruffled her hair, and put his arm around her shoulder. Her shoulders stiffened at his touch but her muscles loosened a bit when she remembered that she was covered fully from the neck down. "You're right," he said. "Now, let's go."

They walked out of the bar, hearing a loud "Bastard!" behind them. When Marie looked quizzically at him, he replied with a short, "She paid for my drinks." Marie's resolve faltered and she laughed out loud. She felt the tears spring up in her eyes. "Bastard," she echoed with the woman.

A/N: Sorry for the delayed update! I'm a full-time student and part-time worker so it's difficult to find the time sometimes. I have a good chunk of the story written out but I am wanting to go in a slightly different direction that originally planned. What I would like to hear from you guys is: would you like to see the X-Men involved or keep them out? Let me know with a review! Thanks for reading! 3


	4. Attack

A/N: I wanted to put out one more chapter before my finals started! I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 4

When they started driving again, Marie held her tongue and her tears. She felt hollow and heavy at the same time. It was happening all over again. She could feel him lingering in her head. It was small and brief so it felt like he almost wasn't there. Her hands were on his skin for a lot less time than before. But she felt him there, faintly, but still there, next to Cody.

His bright had green eyes adored her, crinkling when he smiled when she said something he thought was "cute." His arms draped lazily over her back, picking at her cotton dress. His bright, white smile when she said a joke that she couldn't remember anymore. He was the "boy next door." Their history professor had paired them because he knew he'd never hear the end of it if he hadn't. They'd spent almost an hour in her room and not a single page of their project was completed. They lazed the afternoon away. She claimed the first place she'd go was New York, New York in a poor accent and he told her he was going to Alabama State on a college scholarship for wrestling.

She loved him so dearly, she thought, when she held the back of head softly and brought him in for a congratulatory kiss. She pulled back abruptly when she heard him gag and gasp underneath her. But that was all it took. In those few seconds, she sucked in his memories and put him in a coma.

He was so pale.

It hurt so much, the first week. The pain of a million memories flowing through her mind –the words of family members she didn't know, the image of how his body looked under his clothes, his emotions when he thought about her. Eventually, the stream of thoughts and memories halted and the pain in her head subsided but the pain in her heart grew. The memories never came back. But she felt him there –burrowed in her mind, observing her –watching her every move. She shuddered at the thought of Jeremey residing in the recesses of her mind doing the same.

Jeremey was nothing like Cody. There was the brief immediate thoughts but they stopped almost as soon as she left his body on the ground. She clenched her hands and bit the inside of her cheek. A great big sigh released from her lungs. With one last glance at Logan, she succumbed to exhaustion.

* * *

Marie's eyes fluttered open when the sunlight shone on her face. The clock on the dashboard read 7:15AM and Logan was still driving. She glanced at him. He didn't look like he had taken a break from driving. His bruises from his knuckles that she had seen when she first hopped into his truck were gone. The skin over his knuckles were smooth and untouched.

"Morning," he said. The word was muffled with the cigar between his lips. The scent of his last smoke hung thick in the air. He always greeted her this way every morning. She was glad that they had some type of morning ritual. "Are you feeling alright? You knocked out for almost two days."

She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Her heart jumped when she felt dried tears on her cheeks. Images of Jeremy flooded her mind. "What? Why didn't you wake me?" she asked incredulously.

"I gave up after you punched me the first couple times," he said pointedly. "I gotta hand it to you, kid, you've got a mean right hook." He tapped his chin to indicate where she hit him.

"What!" she exclaimed. _Punched him?_ Marie pulled off her gloves and examined her knuckles carefully and noticed the spotty bruises forming under her skin. Marie had never punched a human being before –she had certainly beat someone with a baseball bat, but she had never violently laid a hand on someone. To think she did that to Logan of all people perplexed her. "I'm so sorry, I would never do that on purpose."

The corner of his mouth lifted. "At least I have an idea of how you got by before."

"Baseball bat, Wolverine," she grinned. "Does wonders to get what you want."

Logan raised an eyebrow. "A baseball bat? That's what you've been using up to now?" He paused for a good moment before asking, "How long have you been away from home?"

Marie shrugged. "Four months."

"From?"

"Mississippi," she mumbled.

Logan remained quiet for a few minutes, letting it soak in. "You got to Canada in four months from Mississippi with a baseball bat as your only weapon." He smiled at her. "Atta, girl."

Marie rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright save the applause. I know: I kick ass." She waved her hands as if she were calming down a group of fans.

"Did you ever use..."

It was a loaded question that slammed a wave of emotions into her chest. She bit down the inside of her cheek hard and cursed the tears that sprang to her eyes. _Not until yesterday_. Many unkind men and women crossed her path for the last four months. The baseball bat had been enough for a lot of it and so had been the pocket knife she stole from her father until she lost it a few weeks ago when crossing the US-Canada border with an import of horses. "I don't want to answer that –."

Suddenly, Logan swerved to the left and Marie's body slammed against her door. The camper shook as it hit the grooves and holes in the dirt and the roots of the trees. Logan yelled a series of curses while Marie screamed.

Finally, the camper crashed into a strong tree so roughly that the branches fell on the hood.

It was so silent Marie thought she could hear Logan's heartbeats. She was about to scream at him but the concentration on his face kept her quiet. When he didn't address her, she thought it was safer to whisper her question.

"What's wrong?"

All hell broke loose.

The sound of shattering glass and growls reached her ears. A large, thick arm covered in light brown fur broke through the windshield and latched its clawed hand around Logan's throat and tore the man out of his seat. More glass splintered as Logan was pulled out, but Marie could finally see the assailant.

He was as tall as Logan –nearly taller – and covered entirely in furs. He had a mop of greasy blond hair hanging to his shoulders. His fangs bared at Logan.

Marie heard the sound of Logan's sharp claws emerge from his knuckles as Logan began to attack back at the beast. Marie used their distraction as her opportunity to escape the camper. The dashboard has been crumpled up so princely that the whole thing leaned against her legs. She quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and tried to twist her torso upwards so she could squeeze her legs out.

They wouldn't budge.

Behind her, she heard a loud clang and a poof. She hurriedly looked over her shoulder. The gas barrels had fall over –she was sure of it. Otherwise she wouldn't be seeing such a large fire through the camper window. She tried to open her door but the entire side had been crushed –leaving her unable to open it.

In front of her, suddenly very far away, Logan and the other man were still fighting. Even through all her dejected struggles, she thought that the animal Logan was fighting looked a lot like the Wolverine in the cage. Territorial and possessive. The man fought with purpose while Logan defended, no longer thinking about the confusion of the attack.

Smoke from the fire behind her began to alienate her nose. Marie ducked as she had learned when she was younger about fire safety. That definitely did not work. Her eyes were already beginning to water. She raised her head to gauge the distance between herself and Logan. Then she realized she didn't give a damn.

"Logan!" Marie screamed. "I'm stuck!" She could barely raise her voice, coughts following and masking nearly all her words. It was clearly the wrong thing to do because he distractedly turned to her, giving the other man the opportunity to hit his head. Before Logan could fall, the man picked him up and punched him in the gut. Logan flew until he crashed onto the hood of the already-destroyed camper.

"Logan!" Marie leaned as far as she could so she could reach him with her gloved hands. She held tightly to his hand, fearing him dead. His hand had a long gash along the row of knuckles.

 _Please don't die._

Fear began to course through her body. What was she going to do? The man in the furs was certainly going to come after her now. She let go of his hand and began struggling harder against the dashboard, screaming in frustration when she couldn't move even an inch. "Logan, get up!"

The cut on his knuckles slowly vanished, sealing itself up. A shadow of a bruise appeared. A loud groan escaped from Logan's mouth. He turned and looked her right in the eye. A long gash on his forehead closed up. His eyes traveled behind her as he glared at the growing fire.

He rolled off the hood, ran over to her side, and pulled open the door with one swift. Just before he could pull her out as well, the furred man yanked him away from her once again.

The smoke was already invading her lungs. She could barely breathe. She leaned to her right to keep pulling but to no avail. Marie reached under her seat and struggled to dig through the bag to reach the gun. She felt the handle brushing against the tip of her fingers. _Almost…there._

Suddenly, blue filtered her eyes. She glanced up and saw a shamelessly naked blue woman standing beside her. Her eyes were bright yellow, like a cat's. Her skin had so many intricate designs on them; Marie wondered if it was really her skin or a suit. Thin, centipede-like tentacles began to lift up from the woman's body, pulling back all the blue to show actual skin.

Replacing the woman was a large man about four feet wide and muscles that even Logan couldn't compete with. Small tufts of blond hair stood up from the man's (woman's?) head. The creature reached for the dashboard and pushed it swiftly away from Marie's legs. Marie scampered away from her seat and fell back onto the second assailant, the gun slipping under her coat sleeve.

The blue centipede-tentacles pulled itself back onto the man's body and replaced him with the blue woman again. Marie watched her in revulsion as the woman dragged her out of the camper by her wrist and into the woods.

"Logan! Logan!"

This time, Logan didn't look at her. With a roar, he drove his claws straight into the chest of the furry man. The man growled lowly, but succumbed to the pain. In a nick of time, he ran in Marie's direction.

"That idiot," Marie heard the blue woman say. Her voice sounded like a serenade of several different voices. Marie took the woman's distraction to click off the safety of the gun and aim it at the woman's leg. She gritted her teeth and pressed down on the trigger. A loud screech echoed above Marie's head as she dropped to the ground. "Sabertooth, come!" the woman screamed. She limped off quickly into the woods. To Marie's surprise, the man she called Sabertooth got up and speedily jumped towards the blue woman's direction.

Logan stopped and crouched next to her. Marie could tell he was debating with himself to stay with her or run after the two attackers. Marie didn't care what he did. She just enjoyed the sweet, clean air.

"Marie," Logan said her name softly. She nodded, letting him know that she was okay.

"What was that?" she asked him. Her voice was raspy and lower than it normally was. She cleared her throat a little, but it didn't help much.

"I have no idea." He stared into the woods again, probably considering whether things were safe yet. "We've gotta get out of here." They both turned to the damaged camper. Flames were spewing from within the truck so they knew nothing left was salvageable. "Guess we're walking," he muttered. Then he stared at her. "A gun?"

Marie breathed deeply, a determined look on her face. "A baseball bat and a gun kept me alive for four months and got me from Mississippi to Alberta." _I am justified._

Logan sighed, his eyebrows drawing together in thought. He helped her stand and made sure she was able to walk. Marie's legs ached horribly but she wasn't about to slow him down.

They were off.

A couple minutes later, they heard an explosion.

* * *

 **A/N** : Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think so far!

What could I have done differently to improve this chapter? What would you like to see in future chapters (story & writing improvements)?

Also...I realize my updates are sporadic so I got a couple options for you guys: **1) shorter chapters for quicker updates? 2) Or long chapters (at least 2k-3k words per chapter) but slower updates?**

The next 8k words is technically the same day…and idk if you guys would want a 8k long chapter lol so I'll try to break it up somehow. I dunno why I do this ugh.

This chapter was about 2k+ without the author's notes so if you're happy with this length lemme know folks 8D


	5. Plan

Chapter 5

They walked for more than an hour and thirty minutes along the road and not a single car or truck stopped for them. Marie usually had trucks that would stop for her, but now that she was walking with a man who even without his claws looked like he could kill someone –she didn't stand a chance.

She could tell Logan was wary and nervous by the stiffness in his shoulders every time he heard a loud noise. She understood. She was afraid those two would return but maybe with more mutants. Then it hit her.

"Logan, wait."

Logan's claws protruded from his knuckles as he turned around in a defensive pose. Marie checked around to make sure no one saw them. He retracted his claws back.

"No, it's not that. I'm just…confused. Those two were mutants. Why in the world would they attack us?"

Logan sighed, pulling one hand down his face. He was tired; she could see it. "I really don't know."

Marie felt sad for him. That was his home. Although it was not pleasant or sanitary, that was how he lived. At least before, she found truckers and rudimentary beds under tables. He found bars to fight in and a reasonably comfortable cot in the back of his camper. Together, they were an unlucky team. It was the two of them against the world.

Marie rummaged to her pockets suddenly, gasping happily when her hands pulled out the two rolls of cash she received the night before. She handed both to Logan, gleefully smiling when he gave her a strong pat on the back. She frowned when she caught the sullen look on his face. She tapped his arm a couple times and gave him a small sympathetic smile. "We'll be okay. As soon as we get into a nearby town, we'll pick up." Marie didn't know exactly how they were going to do this or why she kept saying "we" when Logan could drop her the second they reached civilization.

"Where did you get a gun?" Logan asked suddenly.

Taken aback by the question, Marie answered, "I stole it off some guy a few weeks back." She sweated at the silence she received from Logan. "For protection, mostly." The memory of the trucker on the ground slipped through her mind. The sound of the bat colliding with his head still rung in her ears as she used his body as her stepping stool to get into the truck again and grab the gun. She had mentally thanked her father for taking her to the gun range when she was younger and "daddy's girl." Then she had half-considered stealing the truck too but gave up the idea as quickly as it arrived.

"Why were you at that bar?"

The blood drained from Marie's face. _How the hell did he know?_ "I-I –," she started but quickly shut her mouth. Fear surged through her body.

"You're not the first one's that tried, kid." Logan put one hand on her shoulder and stopped her in her tracks. "And I'm glad you didn't –it would've been real stupid of you. That bartender would have shot you dead before you even tried to ask for the money."

Marie scrambled to save her reputation. "I'm not that kind of person, I promise. I wouldn't have stolen from you. I-I-." She stopped herself again to catch her breath. "I was alone, hungry and penniless. That asshole who drove me over the border took all my money. I was desperate, Logan. But I would not have stolen from you." She pleaded with eyes that he'd believe her. Logan glowered at her once more before resuming to walk. "I'm sorry," she said quietly behind him.

"I believe you." He tossed one roll of money back to her. She quickly caught it and tucked it into her pocket, next to her gun. Marie beamed.

They kept walking until Marie could hardly feel her feet. Added to that, she already had bruises up her legs from the dashboard. Her lungs ached from the smoke and her throat burned for water. Logan did just fine, quashing out all the pain she felt in her hips, thighs, and feet.

A few minutes later, they found a dirt road that led to a place called Shilling Pastures, a grazing land for livestock. Since it was already dark, all the animals were already gone by the time the two reached the pasture.

Logan said that since there would be several farms close by, they could find one in the morning and get a ride to the next town. With a bar. A cage-fighting bar.

But for now, they had to stick to sleeping on the ground. It was only slightly cold since summer was just around the corner but just as uncomfortable as sleeping outside during a winter night. Marie snuggled as much as she could into her coat, but if one part of her body was warmly covered, some other appendage would be touched by the cold. She was thankful that the ground was solid and not gooey and muddy. She looked over at Logan every few minutes to see how he coped but he didn't seem to be suffering the way she was at all. "L-L-Logan," she shivered. He looked at her over the grown grass in concern. Marie didn't know exactly what to say. "Just…thanks." It was beyond her to understand how another mutant took her in for two weeks and then bothered to save her life…again.

He obviously didn't see what she was thanking him for, but once again received it. His eyes rested on her shivering form, softening when her body curled in more to hold in the heat. "Kid, c'mere."

Marie glanced up at him in confusion until she his one arm opening his jacket, inviting her in. She shook her head vehemently. _My skin!_

"Suit yourself," he said. Still, he left his arm out away from his body. The cold seeped through her skin into her sore, beaten muscles. It was enough for her to scoot closer to his side. _I'm covered up_ , she defended in her head. Logan took that as his chance and scooped her into him, letting her rest her head on his chest, his hand resting softly on her back. Marie's heart thudded quickly in her chest and she squeezed her eyes shut in concentration to slow it down for him not to hear it. She was glad he couldn't see her face as she felt her face warm from more than the heat radiating off his chest. Marie took this as his sign of forgiveness.

They both looked up and stared at the full moon. It was a clear night, not a cloud in sight. The moon swelled full and bright. Marie's mother was a superstitious woman and wouldn't leave the house after sundown if there was a full moon. She truly believed that it had the ability to drive a person to madness and unluckiness. Marie teased the idea that maybe her mother wasn't wrong about it for once.

"Why is the moon so lonely?" Logan asked her, crossing one arm behind his head as a provisional pillow. He squeezed her to him again as if to make sure she was still there, close to him. Her blush deepened.

"You tryin' to tell me a story?"

"Do you wanna hear it or not?" he countered.

Marie grinned. "Okay, sure. I think I've heard this one though but I don't know. Why _is_ the moon so lonely?"

"Because she used to have a lover."

Marie let out a loud, hearty laugh followed by a strong cough. "Wow, Wolverine, where'd you fetch this one?" she asked him, amused.

He gave her a smile as well. "From my ass, where else?" Marie grinned. "No idea, kid. Suddenly remembered it."

She stopped smiling. This was the first time Logan was willing to share anything about his past.

"His name was Koo-koo-ka-somethin' and they lived in the spirit world together."

"Oh, so this is a true story."

"Of course," he answered sarcastically.

"And you mean Kuekuatsu?"

"You heard this one?"

"No," she lied. "I want to hear you say it."

She listened to him say the story, patiently waiting when he paused to remember parts of it. She looked upwards at him, examining his features. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration –but there was a softness in them. He seemed surprised. She deliberated whether to tell him about what happened at the bar. He already knew about her poorly planned robbery. But she wasn't sure whether Jeremy was still alive or not but if he wasn't, there were sure to be people looking for her. People saw him leave with her. Or would his death look normal? She didn't know. Cody didn't look normal.

Marie decided against it. They had enough on their plates –adding murder to it wouldn't be helping anything. It'd be something she'd have to explain when they caught her.

"Logan," she murmured.

"Yeah, kid?"

"Did you have your own Moon?" Her heart thrummed again like a hummingbird's wings.

He froze. "You ask a lot of questions." He closed his eyes for a moment. "I should be asking you some instead. You smell different."

"I _smell_ different? You _smell_ me?" Marie's face burned a bit at the thought.

Logan raised his arm from the ground with his knuckles facing her. "Comes with the package. Just wanted to make sure you're alright."

"I guess I am," she said. She guessed she was as much as she could be after getting attacked by mutants and having her only possessions set on fire. And possibly killing somebody. "Logan?" she called again. Marie knew it was too good to be true to learn more about his past.

"What is it, kid?" Frustration laced his voice; she chose to ignore it.

"Goodnight." She snuggled in a little closer.

He sighed. "Night, kid."

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. Will update soon with a longer chapter! The snuggling idea came from Nebelwerfer42! Thank you for reading and let me know what you think!


	6. Farm

Chapter 6

Marie woke up the next morning from the excruciating pain from someone tugging her hair. She quickly got up and looked behind her to face her attacker…

…only to be met by a menacing goat chewing on her hair.

"Ew!" she exclaimed. When she pulled herself off Logan, she felt a quick painful shock in her fingers as they lifted off his chest. Logan growled beneath her but ignored the feeling and continued to sleep. She yanked the wet strands of hair away from the goat's mouth. A nasty smell emanated from her hair. She gagged and dropped it. She looked over beside her where Logan was still sleeping, unaware of the three goats staring at him.

Marie was about to awaken him, but then realized that this was the first time she woke up before him. It may not have seemed like a big deal, but it kind of was to her. Logan always woke up before her so that they could get a head start on the road to wherever. She didn't know if he did that from embarrassment from the uncomfortable noises he made when he had nightmares. He never jumped up screaming bloody murder; she supposed he always woke himself before he got to that part. From the second night in the camper to the last night they slept in there, Marie always got up and sat by his cot until he was nearly done with his nightmare. She figured he would have been irritated or mortified to know that she saw him in that vulnerable state but it didn't seem right for her to sleep through it. She knew when to go back to pretending to sleep before he got up just so he never knew.

Now, watching him sleep so peacefully with bright green grass just barely covered with morning frost and old snow and small, baby dandelions around his body…it made her light up with joy. She pulled her knees close to her chest and sat there, taking in the moment, petting one of the goats –its short hairs raising under her fingertips. It seemed odd that the best night he has had so far was the night after they got attacked and his camper and motorcycle exploded. Marie supposed that the man's mind worked in mysterious ways. She smiled secretly to herself: she really wished she could give him a quick kiss –then frowning when she remembered exactly what that entailed. _Don't kid yourself._

Suddenly, one of the goats near Logan started to spin around, nodding its head. Out of nowhere, it raised its head and sneezed. All over Logan.

Logan sat up with a yelp, his arm stretching out and roughly knocking over the goat. He scoffed as he check himself over with all the unidentifiable liquid all over his jacket. He quickly glared at Marie. "Could've woken me up."

"Could bring myself to wake you, Sleepin' Beauty." Marie provided him a tight smile, not yet ready to tell him the real reason why she didn't.

Logan took off his jacket, and wiped off any snot that got on his flannel shirt. Marie pulled out her glittery purple scarf from her pocket and tied a knot around her neck. Both of them stood together, trying not to trip over the surrounding animals. About fifty feet away, there was a long wooden fence stretching either end of the pasture. There was a small group of men huddled together, laughing.

They were about to approach the group when Marie head a voice behind them.

"You got any business over here?" A heavy-set man, with a receding hairline stood there, eyes droopy.

"Yeah, we're looking for a ride to town," Logan answered him, shucking the leather jacket over his shoulder. He glared at her once more.

The man analyzed them both carefully from head to toe. "Looks to me that you two already got a ride." He appeared disgusted at this and skewered his face with that aspect. "Aren't you a little too young to be a prostitute?"

Marie furrowed her eyebrows in bewilderment. She finally understood how they must've appeared to him. Or to anyone for that matter. Two people: a teenager and a grown man both found in the middle of a pasture covered in sweat and dirt. Strange "liquid" on their clothing and hair. Marie internally groaned.

She could see Logan's friendly face twist into a snarl. "Hey, buddy, she's just a kid."

"Yeah," she agreed angrily. "We're just trying to get to the next town over."

"Well, we can't do nothin' for the two of you," the man said sternly. Logan's jaw tightened at the obvious lie emitting from his mouth.

The man smirked. "I'm sure the folks at Miller Farm can help you two out. No doubt about that." The group of men that was previous at the gate was walking towards us.

"Oi, goin' to Miller Farm?" one man from the group called out.

The man in front of us nodded. "Yeah, these two are."

"What's wrong with Miller Farm?" Marie asked them, genuinely curious.

"Coupla bat-shit crazy mutie lovers." He rubbed his chubby face. "I kindly offered them to have their animals graze on this land, but old Travis thought he was too smart for us. Don't know what goes through his head half the time. He's just tryin' to show us all up, that's what he's tryin' to do."

Marie wasn't raised in a conservative farming community but she understood what they meant. When someone in the town shared something, it was best to take them up on their offer. Otherwise, it was easy to be mistaken as pompous or rich or "too good for the rest of us." Though it made a lot of sense to her when she was younger, it seemed a bit silly to her now. She speculated whether it was worth making enemies again with people she didn't know. _Mutie-lovers_ , she thought. Well, that helped her make her decision quickly.

"So … where is it?"

* * *

They trudged their way through the narrow dirt road to Miller Farm quietly. Marie noticed Logan's hands weren't fisted as they normally were when got aggravated. Clearly, the jackasses they met earlier didn't have much of an effect on him. "I wish you punched one of them in the face." She tiptoed around an anthill, colliding with Logan's back. Surprised, she stepped back a few feet before starting to trail after him again.

"There are plenty of assholes out there, kid. Don't plan on knocking out every single one of 'em."

She sighed and glanced at the sky; she knew they had slept in a little longer than usual according to the way the sun sunk behind the trees. A large red barn came into viw. The pain was faded and chipped and the door was wide open. From where she stood, she could see a few tools like shovels and rakes. Just in the corner, she saw a horse with a dark mane bob its head.

"Do you think they're home?" She looked up at Logan. He was directing his attention on something else. He took a large whiff of the air.

"They're out." He gave her a mischievous smile. "What do you think about grand theft auto?"

* * *

"Logan, I _really_ don't think we should do this." Marie constantly checked behind their backs. She was extremely upset with Logan. Why does he have to go and be rash about everything instead of just thinking it through? Stealing from tipping jars was one thing. Stealing an entire vehicle was a different category altogether.

"Stick around me, kid, and you'll have to get used to this," he grunted. He was using pliers and some other tool to hotwire the motorbike. They were standing by the last stall in the barn, which was where the bike was located. Marie nervously paced while some of the animals watched them.

"But those other people saw us! They know what we look like! When the owners come back and find out we stole _their_ bike, we're gonna get in so much trouble." She was close to hyperventilating. The last thing she needed now was getting caught because of a silly thing like this, especially when they could've just kindly asked. She felt a twinge of fear and it stopped her in her pace. If she was a suspect for what happened to Jeremy, this would only make her rap sheet longer.

Instead, Logan chuckled. As if there was _nothing_ wrong with this scenario. "First of all, they won't find you since you're not even a citizen here. I don't think they're going to post wanted pictures of you all over the continent over something like this. Second, I really don't care."

Marie let out a frustrated groan, bringing her gloved hands to her hair, pushing it away from her face. "Fine, just … hurry up. Before the owners get back." A small amount of relief washed over her. He was right –she _was_ a complete stranger in this country. They didn't even know her real name. In fact, Logan didn't even know her real full name.

"Yeah, I know. I'd hear them before they …" Marie twirled around when he didn't continue. His head was raised again, sniffing the air. She ran toward him.

"What is it?" When he didn't answer her, she repeated the question. "Logan, what is it?"

"Shit," he muttered for the second time that day. Before she could comprehend what was going on, Logan grabbed on to her arm and pulled her behind the stall. She heard a small thump as his back hit the wooden wall. He had one arm wrapped around her middle, holding her firmly while his other hand gripped onto her scarf and placed it on her mouth. She held her breath fearfully. His hand, it was too close to slipping from the scarf. He could easily touch her cheek or her neck. Marie struggled against him, but he had both her arms locked down with his legs on either side of her body.

"Stay still, kid," he whispered, his warm breath rushing past her ears. "I think one of them is on their way here."

He could hear her heartbeats. There was no way he couldn't. It was thumping away like a rabbit. She could feel his hard chest pressing against her back, his powerful legs hugging her sides, and she could hear his heavy breathing in her ear. If her thundering heart wasn't strange enough, her laboring breaths should've given her away. She tried to relax and stay frozen so that she wouldn't accidentally move his hand and eventually kill him. She felt Logan put his hand into her pocket and pull out the gun and hide it behind a slat in the stall.

"You can't hide," a voice echoed through the barn. "I got a gun, so you can't escape." The voice was shaky and weary yet still firm.

Marie thought hard about what to do. She could feel Logan's legs and how strong they really were. The second he heard someone approach the barn, he could have made a run for it and probably made it over the hills before she even noticed he was gone. In a very non-Wolverine-like fashion, he was crouching behind a stall with her to make sure she wouldn't be alone. _Oh might_ y, she thought. The list of things he was doing to save her ass was getting longer. Instead of getting them shot, she was going to do repay him the favor and do the right thing.

She once again thrashed about against Logan again, but this time, he let her go. She hopped up and revealed herself from behind the stall. She raised her hands above her head.

"Oh," she squeaked at the sight of the rifle in the man's hands pointed at her face. He stood only a few feet away from her, but the rifle now targeted the middle of her chest. She tilted her head at Logan, indicating he should come out and surrender as well. He rolled his eyes, but obeyed.

The old man's eyebrows rose when Logan large form emerged from the stall.

"What're you kids doing here?" the man asked, gun still held high. "Messin' around my home? 'Cause that do not work on my property."

Marie's eyes widened. She vigorously shook my head. "No. No messin' around. We were cold." She rubbed her hands together for effect.

"We were looking for help," Logan cut in.

The man leaned to his left and eyed the motorbike. "Sure you were." We were quiet for a moment while the old man examined their condition. The man examined Marie's face and she did her best to put the "oh woe is me" look she could. He sighed. "Why don't we go back to my house? Have something to eat." He wrinkled his nose. "Maybe take a bath."

Wide-eyed, Marie stayed close behind Logan hand and they followed the man to his large, white home.

* * *

It was quiet and uncomfortable as everyone sat around the small table in the kitchen. The house was only a little way off from the barn but the exterior of the home spoke of comfort and cleanliness than the building thirty feet away. The outside was covered in wood clapboard sliding and painted white. The roof was covered in black and grey shingles and even had a cute little chimney.

The man had introduced himself on the way back as Travis Hudson. He told us that he also had a wife named Heather. He mentioned he had a son that visited every weekend who was in the army. A pointed look at Logan said, _if you kill us, my son's comin' after you._

"Uh, thank you … for taking us in. Appreciate it," Logan said awkwardly. The old couple scrutinized them to bits and pieces, it felt like. Marie tucked her hair behind her ears shyly and folded her hands in her lap.

The silence prolonged, the old woman piped up. "Would anyone like something to eat? Jane –was it? –why don't you help me heat the leftovers I have?"

"So what in God's name are the two of you doing hiding in a barn?" Travis bent closer to the table. He glowered at Logan long and hard and made sure that the man felt intimidated.

"Our camper got into an accident on the road so we've been walking since. We were looking for a ride."

"Oh, you poor baby," Heather said.

Travis scrutinized Logan more. "Where might that be, son?"

Logan cleared this throat. "Niagara Falls."

Marie's eyebrows shot up. It was obviously a lie but she had always wanted to go to see the falls.

"You've got a long way to go from here," Travis said. He turned to look at Marie, who was hissing after touching a burning cup of instant coffee from the microwave, and back to Logan. "Where are you two from?"

"Small town in British Columbia," Marie told him. "Caldecott," she made up.

Heather gasped. "What a thing to happen to you two so far from home. We can call the police for you if you'd –"

"That's alright," Logan said quickly. "It's totaled. We'll buy another one for cheap once we get into town."

"Well, there's no use goin' out there now. Most of town's closed up and off to bed," Travis said.

"Oh, Travis, let them stay." Heather put her arm around Marie's shoulder and gave her a tight hug. "You'll stay won't you?" she asked her, hope shining in her eyes. She grinned, showing all her teeth, at Logan. "I promise to take care of both of you. Don't want the two of you out there cold and hungry and fighting for survival."

Travis grumbled an approval. Heather leaped for joy and gave her husband a big, wet kiss. Travis pointed at Logan. "I'll go get you some clothes. I'm sure my son's old ones can fit you."

Heather smiled at Marie. "I'm sure some of my old clothes will fit you, sweetheart." She quickly led Marie into the foyer and then upstairs. But before Marie left, she looked back at Logan, who seemed still miserable at Travis's gaze.

* * *

Marie was amazed by the number of crochet needles in the Hudson master bedroom. Thick, wooly thread wrapped around the needles, falling down the sides of different surfaces like Raggedy Ann's hair. She sent Heather a puzzled look. "I crochet for cancer," Heather answered. "I dealt with it myself and I know it's the right thing to give back with the life I've been given."

Heather dug deep in her closet to find a few hangers of dusty old dresses. She sifted through the dresses until she found a faded yellow dress with long sleeves and a white collar. Heather handed her the dress along with one of her nightgowns. "Here, these will do." Heather smiled kindly to Marie. "Let me ask you: what exactly were you doing out on the road?" she asked Marie. She folded the clothes neatly on her bed.

Marie took a large sip of her coffee. "I thought Logan explained already. We got into a wreck and lost our…home, I guess."

"Yes, but I meant how did you come to know him? He doesn't look like your father."

Marie watched her over the rim of her mug. She supposed it was normal to ask these questions with complete strangers in the house. "You're suddenly very curious," she said lowly, looking away from her. "I was traveling," Marie began cautiously, "… and I met Logan … on the way. He agreed to give me a ride to the next rest stop. But we stayed together a little longer and we ran into … a couple obstacles on the way and our camper got destroyed." She gave Heather a small smile. "And here we are."

"Here were are," Heather repeated. "You seem a little young to be traveling, don't you?"

"Gettin' a head start," Marie mumbled, nervously.

Heather shook her head, chuckling. "Well, it looks like you've met a good man, Jane. He seems like he cares for you."

Marie had not considered that thought. She didn't think Logan had any type of feeling towards her other than chatty company. But he had saved her. Thrice already. "I dunno," she nervously chuckled.

"Maybe it's hard to say now, dear." Heather reached and held Marie's hand. The leather squeaked as Marie's mind did. Heather gazed off, as if thinking on a memory. Her face looked soft and Marie could almost see the youth in her eyes. They appeared sad when it met Marie's again. "Time will always tell. You're young and you have a lot more coming your way."

Once Heather left her to herself, Marie stripped down to her bra, underwear, and gloves and examined herself in the mirror. Her once tanned skin was now pale –a couple of months away from the south had changed her considerably. Small smudges of dirt and ineffective baths covered her body. Her hair was longer but look irregular, flat, and greasy from the lack of proper showers and questionable soap. She was a brunette, but now she had pitch black hair. Large black bruises crept up her legs, amalgamating heavily at her knees. Her fingers tenderly brushed over the bruise by her thighs, hissing at the soreness. She turned to the side and grimaced: she had lost a considerable amount of weight since leaving home but the last couple weeks with Logan and his takeouts had started to help her get a noticeably round stomach. Marie shrugged. At least she wasn't hungry anymore.

She looked away from the mirror and threw the rest of her remaining garments into the pile on the floor. She climbed into the tub and let the _hot_ water hit her, reveling in the warmth and the steam. Her skin rippled under the water and she –just for a minute – pretended she stood back in her home, under her own shower, getting ready for a date with Cody. His sweet face emerged in her mind, those freckles scattered across his nose, soft lips ready with a mischievous smile, his green eyes adoring her, pupils constricting as the capillaries in his eyes burst….

Marie couldn't tell the difference between the water and her tears.

* * *

A/N: The last version of this story had a long Miller Farm story and people said they wanted to move on from that so i made it 10x shorter. This chapter was 3,497 words without the Author's Note. I will be going on vacation soon, so I will post one more chapter before I leave.

Please let me know what you thought of this chapter, what I could improve, and what you're looking forward to! Thanks for reading!


	7. Moments

A/N: This chapter was beta'd by tcsportsmed7! Thank you so much!

Chapter 7

They were around the kitchen table again.

Marie felt prim and proper in her yellow dress, feeling incredibly nervous for some reason. She could hardly remember a day before that she felt so fresh. She shimmied on her underwear – it looked at least salvageable but abandoned her bra in lieu of not having to smell her pit stains during dinner. Wearing her wet hair down, her hair sat on her shoulder in little curls, leaving small pools on the fabric. With a skip to her step, she practically glided towards the kitchen table. Just then, Logan strode down the last couple steps to meet her at the entrance of the kitchen. Marie bit the inside of her cheek nervously. Logan was once against wearing a button-up shirt, but this one was a soft, blue color. His clean-shaven face made him look a lot younger than before. His hair was thick, soft, and much lighter now. It looked like the color of chocolate. His eyes widened a little at the sight of her, his surprising melting to an approving smile – a boyish, sweet smile that surprised her and made her blush.

She began to say something but stopped when the smile slid off his face. She followed his gaze to the bottom of her dress. The dress reached her knees but she saw his fists clench when her malformed purple bruises peeked out from under the hem. Marie tugged her dress downwards as if that would make it reach the floor.

"You're -," Logan began.

Heather stepped up in front of them and waved them enthusiastically towards the floor. "You both sure clean up well," she said cheerfully. She guided them towards the table they sat at before. Marie grabbed the silverware she was passing out, and dug into the plate of reheated lasagna. Heather and Travis politely sat with them as the two travelers ate.

"You know," Travis said to Heather. "I was getting some sheets from the closet down here for our guests. Time I come back upstairs, I hear a crash in the bathroom. Next thing I know, boy's walking out with half the sink in his hands."

Marie looked at Logan, amazed.

"I'll pay for that," Logan muttered, reaching for a second helping.

Travis slowly got up from his seat. "I'll go find the air mattress."

"No, that's alright. I can take the couch," Logan said. The four of them looked over to the living room across the kitchen counter to the petite two seater couch that would leave Logan's legs dangling off one end. Marie almost snorted. "We can share upstairs," he amended quickly. Marie stared at him in surprise. She could take the couch instead, she thought, but didn't bother bringing it up. They may have shared the space in the camper, but she thought that he would want a space of his own where she didn't interfere. The first day, she remembered that he tripped over her sleeping form when he forgot his choice of letting her stay with him. Then he had given her a lecture about how she should either sleep further away from his bed, or at least the foot of it. She had flipped her middle finger at his back in response as he stepped off the camper.

Heather and Travis discussed their days leisurely and how they'd take Heather's crochet hats to town the next day. Heather asked Logan and Marie about their trip and about themselves. He told them they were heading to Quebec, the first Marie heard of this plan. He claimed to have worked in British Columbia in forestry which he decided to take a break from. Marie listened attentively, wondering how much of what Logan said was truth until he tapped her foot, indicating that she should eat some more.

After they all ate –Logan scarfing down three servings while Marie tried to catch up with two –Heather led them upstairs, Marie's clothes and the nightgown folded in her arms, despite Marie's protests. Their guest room was small but had a bathroom connected to it. Heather put the nightgown in Marie's hands. "Might as well sleep comfortably. I'll wash the rest." Her eyes traveled down Marie's arms and rested them on her gloved hands. "Why do you wear those gloves?"

Marie glanced at Logan who watched the two carefully. Marie looked down at the leather, then curled and uncurled her gloved fingers. "My hands are always cold, so … I wear them."

Heather gave the two of them a look for a moment but smiled cheerfully again and wished them goodnight.

Logan unbuttoned his shirt and flung it on the dresser. Marie was stunned for a moment, heart racing and not understanding what he was doing but quickly remembered that he always slept shirtless. She went into the bathroom, noticed the broken sink amusedly, and changed into the cream-colored nightgown. It flowed to her ankles, kissing them softly. She was right out of a 40's magazine, she thought wryly. She scowled when she saw her hair in the mirror. Her still damp hair frizzed within the last hour – millions of flyaways sticking up into different directions. Marie brushed her hair down with her fingers which helped a little but most of them went back to their previous positions, swaying with the light air from the heater. She leaned into the mirror closely - the fluorescent bulbs flickering over her, making her flyaways appear almost white. Marie, frustrated, twisted her strands of hair in her hand and moved them to one shoulder. Her hair immediately relaxed. _Weird_ , she thought.

When she came out, Logan already had a pillow on the floor.

"You take the bed," she said. Marie waved her hands to shoo him towards the bed. Before his last cage-fight, she had gotten the cot while he had the floor. She stopped when he stepped closer to her instead. "What?" She almost screamed when he suddenly picked her up and gently set her down on the bed. "What are you doing?" Behind him on the dresser, Logan picked up a bag of ice that had not been there when they first came into the room. He hiked up her dress causing Marie to kick instinctively. What are you doing? Her skin tingled with him so close to her. Don't touch me! He laid the small bag of ice on her right thigh –the thigh that bruised the worst. She grimaced in pain and breathed fast. The cold seeped through her skin and it ached horribly.

"You need the rest more than I do," he said quietly. He lifted the bag and placed it lower on her knee and she almost slapped him.

"Be careful of my skin," Marie spit out through her teeth. "You're going to need the rest more than I do if you touch me." She gasped and slowed her breath. Logan turned his head away from her direction, his eyes dark, which Marie didn't understand until she noticed that her dress was pulled up almost to her crotch. A surge of charged energy went south, making her close the space between her thighs quickly and her eyes widened in shock. Embarrassed, she cleared her throat and fidgeted with the end of the gown until it reached the ice-bag. Marie observed the concentration on his face, the oddly placed concern on his ruggedly handsome features. She didn't understand: what made him do this for her? This gruff fighter who smoked cigars with his window open so she wouldn't be engulfed in the smell, the nomad who shared his bed and kept her warm. Why? With one gloved hand, she gently moved his away, taking hold of the ice. She scooted up further into the bed and patted the space next to her. "There's plenty of space –but keep it."

Marie slept under the covers beside Logan who slept over it. She left the bag of ice over the covers so it didn't touch her directly either. She turned her head to face him. "So…what do you think of the Hudsons?"

"Nice folks," he answered modestly.

"You broke their sink."

"I know."

They stopped and listened to the crickets. The walls encasing them dulled their singing voices.

"When are we leaving?" she asked him, biting the inside of her cheek. There were at least a couple feet between them but it had been more than six months since she's had another man in the same bed as her. Although her encounter now was not intimate, it made her nervous. There was a low chance he'd touch her skin in the night and nothing provided a reason to stay nervous but her mind remained energetic with wild thoughts.

"As soon as possible. Early tomorrow morning. I wanna keep going east."

"What for?"

"We don't know who those people were yesterday or why they attacked us. I want us to be as far away as we can from here." Marie nodded, thinking about the ferocious man throwing Logan around. Logan tucked one arm under his head with his other arm on his abdomen. Marie watched as he lazily moved his fingers, almost mesmerized by the repetitive motion. "You told me this was your first time in Canada. Might as well show you the sights, right? Why not see Niagara?"

Marie froze, then her face softened in awe. She propped herself up so she could see his face better. "Wait, wait, wait. You were going to take me to Niagara Falls?" She looked him straight in his eyes. "That's … that's the sweetest thing anyone would do for me. Thanks, Logan." So Quebec had been a lie. She wasn't sure why he felt he had to lie about it –the Hudsons' seemed kind and trustworthy.

"Can't thank me yet, kid. Haven't taken you there," he said gruffly, embarrassed.

"Yeah, but it's the thought that counts." After being silent for a minute, she started again. "You know, when I first left home, I figured I'd pretend that I'm getting a head start on the road trip I always wanted to go on. It hasn't been as fun as I hoped it'd be so far." Marie thought regretfully on the awful people she met on her journey up to Canada. "I never thought I'd meet someone like you, Logan. I'm really glad I did though." She laid back down on the bed and burrowed under the blanket, suddenly feeling shy.

Logan sneaked his arm under her shoulders and brought her close to him. Marie held her breath, once again afraid he would touch her skin. But he just planted a soft kiss on her hair. "Me too." He didn't let her go, but must've felt her body become rigid. At least the night before she was wearing more layers. "I'm not afraid of your skin," he whispered in her hair.

"You should be," she mumbled. Marie slowly slithered out of his arms and faced away from him. She heard him shift in the bed. He was waiting for an explanation. "It's like poison – it hurts anyone who touches me. I-I almost killed someone. Maybe two. Because they touched my skin." Images of Cody and Jeremey flooded her mind. She felt a pang in her chest. Marie squeezed her eyes shut. "That's why you need to be careful. I don't want to hurt anyone anymore."

"Whatever happens, kid, you know nothing hurts me."

"You do get hurt though," Marie said. "You just heal from it quicker. I get some of their thoughts and memories, Logan. I know it felt excruciating for them."

Logan paused for a moment before replying, "Turn around."

Marie obeyed and shifted back to face him again. She felt defeated, mortified, and culpable. This wasn't some after-school special. Her skin had her telling a gorgeous man that she'd make him suffer if he ever wanted to touch her. She wanted to laugh at the absurdity.

"If I can retract the claws, you can turn off the skin."

Marie blinked. It sounded so obvious but it had never even once occurred to her. Turn off her skin? How? Absolutely nothing had changed between the time when Cody entered her house that day with a kiss on her cheek to the time when she kissed him again to congratulate him. She didn't even know anything was _on_ to turn off.

"No, I don't know how, but if I can do it, you can too."

Marie felt wary of the thought but a small weight lifted off her chest. She didn't even imagine she had a chance. Then she asked the question that she wanted to ask for a while, "Don't take this the wrong way…but why do you care?"

Logan didn't answer for some time. She figured that meant he probably didn't really know why either. She had made it clear more than once that her skin required much more precaution that it appeared yet it seemed like he never thought twice about patting her back, touching her shoulder, or holding her close to his body. He suddenly snorted and said, "We've managed to almost get killed nearly three times since we've met. You haven't failed me yet on covering my back and keeping your chin up. I trust you."

Marie's eyes widened a little. She didn't know what to say back.

"That's hard to come across –someone to trust." His body was turned towards her, his breathing slow, his muscles relaxed. He reached forward and lifted a small strand of her hair across her cheek – Marie stopped breathing – and pushed it back behind her ear, all while avoiding her skin by a breadth of a hair. "So I give a damn." He rolled onto his back again.

Marie said nothing. _I trust you_. God, in her head that almost equated to him saying, in a shared bed, "I love you." She knew that's not what he meant but after months of people passing over her or robbing her or trying to assault her...and Marie doing the same back, how could anyone trust anyone? She didn't think she'd ever know how to respond to that.

"And kid?"

Marie hummed a response.

"If I'm bothering you in your sleep, wake me up. I know I've got an irresistible face to look at, but I'd rather keep my pride."

Marie's lips became a perfect "o". "You _knew_?"

He snorted. "You're the worst fake-sleeper I've ever met."

Her lips widened to a mischievous smile and fake-punched his arm teasingly. "Sorry, I'll wake you up next time." He grinned back at her and her heart swelled. "Goodnight."

He was quiet for a while; she thought he was asleep, but he answered. "Night, kid."

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the late update! Please let me know what you think and what you'd like to see next!


	8. Next Journey

Chapter 8 - The Next Journey

Marie woke up to Logan facing her in bed, their hands clasped together near their pillows. The scent of pepper creosote that lingered on Logan's skin, even after a long, hot shower, reached her nose. She leaned in a little closer and sniffed happily. Eyes half open, she almost didn't even recognize him or the situation. Not a single surge of panic swept through her, despite their hands touching. She had dreamt of her home and her family and Cody, all together at Cody's wrestling match against their rival school. The home team won against the rival team. Cody approached her after the match, breathing heavily with a wide smile, a sheen of sweat on his forehead, and held her close. " _I love you Anna-Marie."_

Marie watched his eyes move under his lid and she half-wondered what _he_ dreamt about. She fought the urge to trail her finger down his refined nose and feel his cleanly shaved jaw. The moonlight shone on the right side of his face making his eyelashes cast shadows on his cheek. Marie, still hanging from the remnants of her own dream, grinned and bit her lip and giggled when he crinkled his nose. "I love you too, Cody."

Her smile immediately dropped when he opened his eyes, staring right into her own. She was awake –wide awake. His hand tightened around hers, still watching her carefully. He reached one hand to stroke her hair but stopped midway. Marie almost stopped breathing.

"Let's go," he said.

Marie watched the door, feeling a bit stunned, heart pounding, for a few minutes, waiting for him to come back before beginning her struggle to get out of bed. Her legs ached horribly. She shoved aside the bag of melted ice grumbling that it did nothing. The digital clock on Logan's side of the bed read 3:15AM –around the time they normally would've been getting to bed. She took a quick shower, scrubbing her skin so hard that it turned pink and squeaked clean. There was no plan yet for their destination so she didn't know the next time she'd be able to relish in a steamy shower. She put on the dress that Heather had given her and wore a pair of socks from a drawer she found in the closet and her trusty green high-top All-Stars. She rolled her brown gloves up her forearm until it almost reached her elbow.

Logan entered the bedroom again but with backpack and sat on the bed while she dried her hair. He didn't say anything about what just happened or about what they talked about before sleeping. It frustrated Marie a little but then again, did she really want to talk about any of those either? He handed her her green coat. "The rest of your clothes are in here," he said indicating at the backpack. "Once we head into town, we'll get whatever else we need and we'll head east."

Marie nodded. She shrugged on her coat and grabbed the backpack from him. Before she zipped it up, she went to the closet and grabbed the rest of the socks and stuffed them in the bag. "In case," she told Logan. She felt his eyes on her as she fumbled getting her jeans out to wear under her dress.

"I'll get the bike ready," he said. He reached into his jacket and pulled out the roll of bills and put nearly half the stash onto the bedside table. Marie felt a sense of pride as he left the room.

Another ten minutes later, Logan straddled the rumbling bike. Marie slung the backpack on her shoulders. Logan looked at her, nodding at her to get ready to leave.

Marie regretfully thought back to the oblivious couple in the house. When would they meet strangers this kind again? With a swift kick of her leg, she climbed onto the bike behind Logan and they were off.

* * *

It took them nearly an hour to get into town. When Logan sped away from the farmhouse, Marie almost screamed in fear that she would fall off the bike. Her thighs ached horribly from the bruises from yesterday and from clenching tightly onto the racing bike. About twenty miles out, Logan had told her to wrap the scarf around at least the bottom part of her face in case the town had the money to afford CCTV. Marie, confused but compliant, tied the scarf to cover her nose and mouth, feeling that she looked a little like Donatello with her purple scarf fluttering behind her. Her fingers painfully stretched out when Logan finally stopped, stiff from tightly holding Logan's jacket. The tiny location had a couple diners, a grocery store, and some odd shops. Marie feared that the thundering sound of the motorcycle would wake up the townspeople living above their stores but they didn't see a single light go on. Logan stopped near an auto garage, across from a small boutique. There were several cars parked outside the buildings.

Logan turned off the ignition and the two got off the bike. "Pick your favorite and we'll be out of here."

Marie balked in surprise. "Are you serious?" she hissed. "With all that noise we just made you want to steal _another_ vehicle?" Logan raised an eyebrow in response, but said nothing. She sighed in frustration. "Any of them?" The cobblestones clacked under her feet as she observed each vehicle. A nice big minivan, a couple of compact cars, and a few vans. Marie pursed her lips in disapproval until her eyes landed a large, dusty blue truck. "This one," she pointed.

Logan squeezed her shoulders with a grin. "This one it is."

* * *

They drove for almost 500 miles with no food or sleep before they stopped in Kindersley. Saskatchewan. They both had to be hungry after more than seven hours of driving but Logan refused to stop anywhere in case there would be a spotlight on them and Marie didn't bother asking. Throughout the drive, the air remained heavy with discomfort. Every now and then Marie would bring up a television show or a movie that she had watched and would explain the whole plot and curse when she'd get to a part that needed extra explanations and "you need to see it to get it" moments. She could tell that Logan was listening the way he tilted his head slightly –she appreciated that he made the attempt to quell the tension between them. He looked so angry that morning –it had scared her a little. She didn't know whether she should explain to him who Cody was or whether he thought she had addressed _him_ somehow. Logan wasn't stupid though, she thought. There was no way he thought she was talking to him. She sighed heavily, earning her a sidelong look from Logan with a quirked eyebrow. She smiled thinly. Marie also mused during the drive what the chances of them getting caught was. After all, Maryfield was in a different province and one look at Logan told her that he was smart enough to not service a stolen vehicle.

"I feel a little bad stealing from the Hudsons. I mean, they were pretty nice to take us in," she said. She bit the inside of her cheek, thinking of Mrs. Hudson and the fact that she crocheted for charity and took strangers into her home, fed them, washed their clothes, and let them sleep only to be repaid back with a stolen motorcycle…and an unmade bed. She sighed again.

Logan must have seen the tension between her eyebrows when he said, "We'll pay 'em back when we come into some money. What I left should cover the sink and part of the bike."

"Okay, so what's up with the sink?" she asked.

He grimaced and grunted away her question.

Feeling a little frustrated by the lack of answers from him, Marie snapped, "Do you seriously think I'm going to go tell someone?" She cringed after she huffed and crossed her arms and stared out her window. "Figured it's not a big deal."

Logan frowned. "I heard you crying yesterday…in the shower," he said in a low voice. Marie blushed, trying to remember if she had been that loud. "I first thought was that you were in danger and –." He knocked his knuckles against the steering wheel. "-the threat was neutralized."

Marie guffawed suddenly. She slapped her hands over her mouth to stop laughing. "Oh yeah, I bet that sink really put up a fight," she laughed. She ignored the mention of her crying. She had forgotten how well he could hear.

Logan wasn't ready to give it up that easily. "You okay?"

It felt awkward and comforting at the same time. Logan proposing that they talk about _anything_ wreaked havoc in her brain but at the same time, it warmed her to think someone wanted to listen. She bit the inside of her cheek and could feel her body begin to sweat. "Um…" she started, "I-I dated this guy…this really nice, _amazing_ guy Cody." Her heart pounded wildly when she said his name out loud. She saw Logan's fingers impatiently tap the steering wheel. "He was the one person I could consistently turn to…and I think I killed him." Her voice quivered.

Marie remembered how she had screamed when she had tried to rouse him but every time she touched his skin, he'd become paler and a small groan would escape his lips. She pulled her hands back, crying harder when Cody laid motionless but still somehow heard his agonizing scream in her head. Her mother ran into her room with a stricken look on her face. Her eyes widened when she saw Marie sobbing with her hands clasped at her chest and Cody, seeping blood from his eyes and nose as he seized in the bed. Everything moved at a mile a minute after that as paramedics took Cody away and her mother demanded answers about her what she did. Marie didn't think she really understood what was happening but the dread lingering in her mind whenever her mother tried to pull the blankets tightly wrapped around her body away told her she knew exactly what she did. And then soon, her parents understood as well. Her mother would leave meals outside her room –a room that her father made sure to lock from the outside. He refused to let her leave the house while the community whispered about the possible mutant in the D'Ancanto home. She begged through the wooden door everyday to let her see Cody in the hospital but her father simply replied, "What would people think, Marie?" Before long, when her parents stopped arguing beneath her floor, she knew _he_ was gone.

Nearly four months later, with Marie never allowed to take a step downstairs, her mother finally walked into her room with a duffel bag and an envelope full of cash. "You need to go." Marie watched her mother leave without another look behind her, speechless. She wasn't sure if she should call out to her mother to plead with her or to scream at her. She held back tears and she stuffed clothes into the bag, grabbing the baseball bat behind her door and packing it into her bag. Her father's pocketknife felt heavy in her pocket and her mother's gloves were stiff on her hands. She breathed slowly, sat on the bench a mile from her house, and waited for the bus.

* * *

"Those cowards," Logan nearly spit. The venom in his voice startled Marie out of her memory. After a few seconds he asked her quietly, "Did you see him after that?" His knuckles were white as bone and the wheel began to dent where his fingers were. He turned the truck into a lot with a small yellow diner with a billboard-style sign that read _The Crispy Biscuit_.

Her chest tightened painfully. "No, I didn't. I don't think he survived." They both got out of the truck and approached the diner. Marie noticed on the glass door a simple printer-paper sign that said, "Now Hiring." Logan has noticed it too but didn't mention it. Instead he put his hands firmly on her shoulders from behind and guided her into the diner.

Marie was surprised at how warm it was inside. The diner clearly lacked an A/C with several portable fans placed around the dining space. The walls flashed bright yellow with the obviously cracking paint covered with pictures of food, customers and various road signs. Marie noticed there weren't many other patrons in the diner –a few men and a family scattered over the diner. A short, plump woman with a crooked nametag that read "Morgan" approached the two with a tired smile and wordlessly led them to a booth by the windows. Marie and Logan sat on the patterned, cloth seats, both visibly sinking in exhaustion.

"Here are the menus, and I'll be back shorty to take your order," the woman said.

As soon as the waitress walked away, Marie leaned into the table towards Logan. "This place is hiring."

Logan raised an eyebrow. "You want to work here?" _The Crispy Biscuit_? Marie imagined he was thinking.

She shrugged. "I figure since we're low on cash, might as well replenish before heading out. And so far, you've been the one earning money and spending for both of us. I want to contribute." She could tell by the look on his face that he didn't like the idea. Her plan didn't exactly confirm how long they would be staying in one place. She twiddled her thumbs nervously. Marie quickly added, "We'll leave as soon as we have enough to get going again."

He was pensive but nodded. "As soon as we have enough to get going," he repeated. Logan suddenly grabbed one of her gloved hands and held it in his own. Marie looked at him, wide-eyed. "You're fidgeting too much." She gulped and nodded and didn't say anything when he didn't completely let go.

Logan finally let go when the waitress shuffled back to their table and they ordered burgers and Logan threw in a milkshake for Marie. She jittered a little in her seat, excited. The same waitress brought their food fifteen minutes later. Marie noticed Logan's shoulders relax when he sipped the cold beer in front of him. When they began eating, Marie smiled sweetly to Logan, wordlessly thanking him. His gaze softened. The corners of his mouth slid upwards. She felt confused at how much she depended on him. He didn't look much older than her –probably in his mid-twenties latest. And since he shaved at the Hudson's home, he appeared more youthful and handsome than before. Marie didn't realize how long she stared at his face until she noticed he was staring right back at her, smirking, amusement bright in his eyes. She quickly averted her gaze, cheeks heated.

"Well, you know my story," she said, "what's yours?"

Sadness bloomed in his eyes. "That's for another time, kid."

Marie grimaced, feeling a little guilty for asking that. It was far from easy to tell her own story and honestly never thought she would stay with him long enough to mention it. She changed the subject and rambled on about Niagara Falls and joked about jumping off the waterfall in a barrel. Logan teased and said he'd be on a ship at the bottom to take a picture when she landed.

Logan paid for their meal but before they left the diner, Marie approached the waitress Morgan. "I saw the sign outside…," Marie looked at the small nametag on the woman's uniform again. "…Morgan. Are you still hiring?"

Morgan gave her a once-over, eyeing Marie's gloves. "The tips are terrible and the customers are worse. You still interested?"

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the very late update…life happened. I'm not sure if I made it clear but the Logan in this story is year 2000 Hugh Jackman so he appears very young. Please let me know if Marie's backstory seemed rushed or anything/what I can improve for the next chapter. Thanks for reading!


	9. Awakening

Chapter 9

Three weeks passed quicker than Marie realized. She worked twelve hours at a time at the restaurant with Morgan, who was actually the manager of the restaurant as well, and whenever she got a chance to work the weekend, she would share her shift with another waitress named Sara who was finishing high school. She quite enjoyed working with Morgan, who got used to Marie quickly and didn't have a filter when it came to gossiping about the people in her life. Morgan often questioned Marie about the gloves and the tights she wore under her uniform despite how warm it was inside the diner but Marie always tried to play it off by pretending to shiver hoping the questioning would stop. And though she liked her manager's company, she grumbled at the end of the week when she counted the cash in her crumpled envelope. Although, she did stop grumbling after the first week after she jokingly wiggled her foot on Logan's lap late one evening demanding he massage her sock-clad feet after such a long day and he un-jokingly massaged it till she fell asleep.

The second week, Logan had come home with more money than she had earned the first two weeks combined after going a couple towns over to gamble. She felt a little embarrassed looking at her small pile compared to his but appreciated him for not undermining her and telling her not to work. Yet, she didn't mind the difference in "wages" too much –it felt sincerely refreshing to settle down after running from one place to the next with absolutely no aim. Even more, she liked the time she got to spend with Logan on their days off when they'd sit on one of the queen beds in their hotel room with the TV on in a low hum, newspaper pages separated between the two with cards spread across the comforter. The ancient heater beside the window would clunk and churn rudely into the otherwise peacefully quiet room but Marie didn't mind one bit.

"Hey, Logan? What do you think about going down to New York?" They were playing a Russian card game _Durak_ that Logan taught her after playing solitaire one too many times. Marie slapped down the last card in her hand and smirked –she was sure to win this time.

"For what?" he said absentmindedly. The lit cigar hung from the corner of his mouth, his concentration wholly on the cards in his hands. Logan sat cross-legged at the head of the bed while Marie sat at the foot with a stack of cards and a single black and white die between them.

"Well for one, the X-Men are there."

Logan scoffed and waved her off. "You're telling me you want to join that uppity rag-tag team of superheroes? In spandex?" He shook his head and looked back down at his cards.

" _And_ we'd be safe!" She glanced down at the card that he finally put down as a defense against her sixth attack card and groaned loudly. She dropped the cards in her hands onto the bed and flips around to get off. "This game sucks! How do you win every single time?" It was their fourth time playing the game that night. She yelped when she felt a tug on the hood of her coat and fell backwards on the bed. Logan's bright blue eyes were above hers full of laughter.

"It's 'cause you're a sore loser, Loser" Logan chuckled, a little smoke escaping his lips and flowing over her face. Marie pouted jokingly but her pout quickly dissolved to a smile. Inhaling the smoke above her, a flurry of memories ran through her mind of family get-togethers. She rolled onto her stomach and got up and sat on her legs and extended her hand out as a silent question to try the cigar. "Thought you hated smoke?" Logan asked with a raised eyebrow but handed it to her anyway.

She held it between two fingers and inhaled deep and instantly began coughing. It felt like her throat was on fire. Handing back the cigar to Logan who laughed and patted her back, she shook her head quickly and replied, "Yep, still hate it!" After a minute of non-stop coughing and the soothing feeling of Logan's hand rubbing her back she smiled sheepishly at him. He still had a grin on his face, clearly amused at her attempt to look as "cool" as him. Logan reached out to tousle her hair but she ducks a little so his hand doesn't touch her causing his fingers to go through her hair.

"Sorry," she barely heard the whisper escape Logan's lips. His hand fell through her locks and softly landed on her shoulder. The whole thing sent a spark through Marie and she knew she was staring but couldn't look away. His eyes were an electrifying blue looking straight back at her. She let her gaze travel down his nose and the sharp angle of his jaw –one that he seemed to be shaving more often now for some reason –to his already parted lips. She felt her body lean forward towards him; his hand left her shoulder and back into her hair again, drawing her head closer.

 _NO!_

Marie suddenly shot up from the bed with a gasp and quickly walked to her own bed, slipped under the covers, and faced the window away from Logan. Her eyes were wide open as she said, "I should get some sleep –got an early day tomorrow." A little lump remained stuck in her throat as she worriedly thought about what happened.

Marie's body had moved back, yes, but she wasn't the one who thought "no." In fact, the voice sounded a lot like Cody's.

* * *

The next day, Marie busied herself at work cleaning tables, barely paying attention to Morgan rambling on about her weekend with her new boyfriend. She couldn't stop thinking about Cody's voice in her head –how long had it been since she heard him so clearly? Since the night she touched him, she thought. Then, his memories had spun around her head but most of them faded away quickly after, leaving her with memories she noted was probably important to him. But to suddenly hear him again elated her and scared her at the same time. All this time, she had assumed the memories had faded away because he passed away in the hospital and maybe that was how her abilities worked. So did that mean Cody was still alive? Or did her powers work completely differently? And why had it been _Cody's_ voice that said "no"?

"Jeez, Marie, chill out maybe?" she heard Morgan say behind her. Marie looked down at her hands scrubbing the table so hard that it shook. She smiled sheepishly and moved onto the next table.

She had to admit it was a stupid idea. What did she think she would get by leaning in? The memories of Cody and Jeremy convulsing in front of her flashed through her mind. Marie grimaced and kept scrubbing.

Marie suddenly straightened and spun around to face the rest of the restaurant, eyes darting one side to the other. A familiar feeling resided in her mind -one she clearly remembered in the aftermath of Cody. That odd, invasive feeling that made her think that she was not quite alone as she thought she was. Except this time, its presence was large and looming -she couldn't be imagining it. Someone was with her. In her. She looked behind to make sure Morgan, nor any other customer, wasn't looking at her. She leaned forward towards the growing buzz that tingled over her skin.

" _Marie, I'm here."_

It was a faint and distant voice full of static and doubt. Marie's breath caught in her throat and like slow motion, from the corner of her eye, she saw _him_ standing there. A glimmer – just barely visible to even her own eye. Even then she knew he was just a figment of her own imagination, but she couldn't help herself as she reached out to touch him….

"Marie are you okay?"

Marie looked behind her in surprise to see Morgan staring at her with confusion and concern. "Um…no," she gasped. "I think I need some air." She moved around Morgan abruptly, still shocked and wide-eyed and walked out of the diner to sit on the cold bench beside the door.

Memories that didn't belong to her surged through her mind again. This time, it was clearer than before. Clean, crisp, and sharp memories of wrestling, and dinners, and family gatherings, and friends that did that never existed in her life flashed in an instant. She felt something wet on her upper lip. She used the back of her hand to wipe it away only to see blood. Her head hurt. She slumped in her seat in exhaustion.

He appeared again beside her, sitting back lazily like she did -like _he_ used to all the time. " _Someone else is in here too. That asshole who tried to hurt you. Goddamn if I was there, Marie, you know I would've protected you."_ He kicked out in frustration. _"But he's very faint -almost like an afterthought."_

 _Are you dead? Are you real?_ She wanted to ask him. The image of him kept flickering in and out like bad reception. Marie's heart beat faster every time he flickered back and she could see his bright, golden hair.

He smiled sadly _. "I don't know, babe. You know as much as I do."_ He paused for a moment, tapping his thigh like he always did when he was thinking about something. _"You know I'm not real. I'm just everything that you absorbed from Cody Robbins."_

Marie thought her heart might explode from hearing that. It wasn't like she never thought about it but to hear it from an imaginary Cody with _his_ voice hurt more than she could bear. She sighed. It didn't make sense why she was suddenly remembering all his memories, but she definitely felt him there boxed into a section of her mind. She tried to find the little box with Jeremey in it to see if she could access his memories as well but immediately felt a shock run through her.

 _"I tried accessing those memories for you but there's so little of him I couldn't get anything. But there's something there that I don't understand, babe. I'm not sure what it is but you took something from him."_

Marie couldn't understand what that even meant. Other than the few, brief memories she had taken from Jeremy, she wasn't sure what else Cody was talking about. She suddenly remembered the exclamation in her mind from last night. She glanced at him, knowing that he knew exactly what she was thinking about.

 _"I know it's fucked up, Marie. Yesterday, that man…I know I'm just a bunch of memories but…it still feels like I'm here."_ He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees and his face into his palms. " _I want you to be happy, but I think it was too much at once to see you…_ be _you…with him."_

 _I'm really sorry, Cody._

He reached out his hand to touch hers. She felt nothing on her skin. " _I know. I forgive you, Marie."_

Marie laughed humorlessly. She wondered if she was narcissistic enough to _be_ both Cody and herself and forgive herself like that. It didn't make sense but then again, did it ever?

Marie returned to work but worked aimlessly. She could tell Morgan was concerned but too busy to say anything other than "take it easy." Her day couldn't end fast enough. When the day finally came to a close, she heard the recognizable purr of Logan's stolen motorcycle in the diner parking lot.

"Here's your boyfriend to pick you up," Morgan teased her in an attempt to cheer her up. Marie smiled awkwardly and said goodnight before leaving the diner.

Without a word, she hopped on behind Logan onto the bike unable to answer when Logan asked her how her day was. She put on her helmet and rested her head on his back. Relief washed through her when he silently understood and didn't press further. He kicked off and drove them both back home.

She could tell he knew something happened, but she wasn't even sure where to start. He knew that her skin was poison but how could she even begin to explain something she could hardly understand herself? How could she explain how she had her ex-boyfriend's memories running through her mind? That her mind was playing tricks on her by him appearing in front of her?

As she curled into bed, the end of her bed shifted in weight. She felt Logan's hand on her sock-clad foot, ready to give her a massage in his way of comforting her -probably thinking she had a rough day at work. The instant sensation of his touch felt like a burn. It scared her to her core. The thought that an essence of Cody was inside her, watching another man care for her made her feel embarrassed and even more lonely. She pulled away her feet quickly and remained in a fetal position. "It's alright, Logan. I just want to sleep," she said firmly. The bed shifted again in weight. She head the clicks as lights turned off in the room.

Neither of them said goodnight.

* * *

A/N: Let me know what you think. I hope the last part of this chapter made sense? I can definitely reedit it if it makes 0 sense haha. Let me know what you'd like to see next/any thoughts/ideas. Thanks for reading!


	10. Haywire

Chapter 10

Marie found herself throwing herself into work. She worked as hard as she could for as long as she could. Quickly after the first glimmer episode, she realized that any moment she wasn't using her full concentration on a task, Cody would begin to appear again. Just to see his gentle smile again pushed her into an abyss of guilt and self-hatred. So, she would return back to work quietly and try to make the glimmer go away.

It seemed Logan had the exact same mindset. He'd leave before she woke up and come back after she went to sleep. Since the night of the first glimmer of Cody, it was the first time she had to drive herself. Sometimes, she'd stir awake when he finally returned back to their room and by the low light of the bathroom, she'd see dark stains on his clothes. In the right angle, she could see how bright red they were. She'd bury her face into the pillow and bite her cheek to stop herself from asking. She knew the second she asked him where the blood came from, he'd keep his mouth shut till she talked about what was going on with her. Although she tried to become friendly again with Logan, he just wasn't ever there. It almost felt like they were back in the bodies of the two strangers in the truck on that cold, snowy day. Her mind gnawed at the unpleasant thought that Logan was planning to finally leave without her, but she'd quickly throw herself into doing something so that she stopped thinking about it.

In a desperate attempt to rekindle the comfort of their friendship, Marie had stayed awake the night before until Logan came home and asked him to come to the diner for dinner the next night since she would be there the entire evening. "I'll even be your waitress," she had said jokingly, as if it would sweeten the deal.

Logan had finally smiled and said, "If I get a booth, I'll be there." Marie's heart had soared with joy.

Today she busied herself with orders from dawn till dusk. _Crispy Biscuit_ 's main patrons were older men who nearly ate every single meal at the restaurant. Morgan loved them to death. At nights it was a mix of drinking buddies and small families doing their routine weekly night out. There were regular guests that had begun to recognize her more often and would make a point to chat with her about her day. Rarely were there ever any strangers or newcomers to the restaurant but the last few days, the same man had sat in the same booth -much to Morgan's delight as she would reapply her bright red lipstick in the back room before coming out to get his order. Marie had one particular favorite Mr. Thompson who always tipped her more than she felt she deserved. After a couple of days of taking home his large bills, she started using a portion of it to deduct from his bill so that she didn't feel like a crook. When she told Logan she was doing that on an off night, days before Cody appeared, where both of them lazed in their respective beds, he just mumbled, "You're better than most." She had responded with a fake haughty laugh. "Of course, I am!" Logan had laughed.

Today, Mr. Thompson wasn't there in his usual booth. Instead, his routine presence was swapped by the large stranger that usually sat in Morgan's half of the diner. Marie saw Morgan purse her red lips in annoyance but too proud to ask to take over Marie's table before leaning onto her elbows and continuing to furiously click away at her phone. "Everything okay?" Marie asked, trying to prolong the time before she refilled the strange man's coffee. Something inside her crackled and hissed when she looked at him. Marie wasn't completely sure whether it was truly her feeling that way or if it was Cody feeling apprehensive, or worse…Jeremy.

She bristled at the thought before she caught the last bits of Morgan's rant. "Marie, I swear to god, I don't know why I even try bothering with this man." She turned to Marie and put her hand on her hip like she usually did when she had something to complain about. "I told Mark I was going to get off early and let Sara and Cleo close up, so we can go out for _once_ and what does he do? 'I'm goin' out with the guys, baby, I'm sorry' I swear I'm getting sick of him."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Marie tried to console her. "Maybe taking over my table and talking to that guy you've been ogling at can take your mind off it."

Morgan playfully hit Marie's arm, but Marie immediately tensed and grimaced at the contact. Morgan didn't notice. "Ugh, I know I'm being so bad. I really thought Trevor was into me," she whispered. "But he's not sitting at my tables anymore…maybe he was here for you this whole time?"

Marie did not like that and fought to keep a disgusted look off her face.

Her stomach dropped when Trevor raised a hand to beckon her over. She brought over the pot of coffee to his table and poured. "Is there anything else I can get you?" she asked, picking at the edge of her glove nervously. This seemed to get his attention.

"Any reason you wear the gloves?" Trevor suddenly asked.

Marie pretended not to be fazed by the question, but she immediately became alert and wary when he asked. It wasn't the first time a patron asked about her gloves -she'd usually get away with laughing it off and claiming she wasn't used to the cold yet. Which wasn't completely a lie. Marie laughed uncomfortably and replied, "I'm pretty cold -you don't feel it?"

"Morgan was telling me about you -how you never take them off. I was just curious if there was an explanation behind that." When Marie didn't answer, he continued, "When I was in the military, I knew a man who was like you. He'd never take his off unless it was to keep his hands clean. And he sure was strict about it too. OCD I think it was."

"Maybe that's what I got."

He nodded slowly. "Maybe."

Marie definitely did not like this man.

* * *

The evening rush came sooner than Marie and Morgan could have prepared for. They walked briskly back and forth from tables, filling water glasses and taking orders and serving food. She and Morgan sighed in relief when Sara and Cleo walked in, Morgan even kissing one of the girls on the cheek. Marie perked up whenever she heard the bells at the door, hoping to see Logan walk through in his dark leather jacket. Diners would ask whether the booth in back near the window was open and Marie would say with a large smile, "It's reserved, ma'am" as if she worked in a Micheline star restaurant.

There were many people that Marie saw often but it was strange to see them all here together. She didn't think too much of it until a group of older men near the middle of the diner began to talk loudly.

"Y'know, this is the one time I'll say it, but America's finally got their act together by passing that bill."

Marie slowed down in her ministrations and glanced at the off-center booth that Cleo worked. It was a group of older men, all of them in their forties if not older. They'd come in a few times since Marie started working there but not enough for her to get to know them.

"Those goddamned mutants are a menace. Did you hear about that little girl who got so upset that she got in trouble at school that she screamed so hard that a little boy's eardrums ruptured. _A little girl_. Imagine what kind of damage she could do when she gets older. To think that they let her go to a public school at all…."

The Mutant Registration Act. That must have been what they were talking about. Marie rolled her eyes as she grabbed the empty dishes from the table and walked back to the kitchen. She remembered hearing it all the way from Mississippi to the day she met Logan. Like most things related to politics, Marie didn't involve herself nor did she care, but she did notice the increase in animosity towards mutants since the conversation started.

It was like it _reminded_ people that mutants existed, and they didn't like it one bit.

Chiming from the main door drew Marie's attention away from the men's conversation to the hulking figure observing from the front of the diner. A warmth spread through her core when Logan's eyes caught hers and a small smile played on the edge of his lips. She nearly skipped to him and stood in front of him, trying her best to hold a serious expression

"Good evening, sir, do you have a reservation?" she bit her lip to keep herself from laughing.

His eyes twinkled in mirth. "I know someone who works here. She said she'd get me the best table in the house." Logan crossed his arms and looked at her expectantly.

A full grin broke through and she shook her head. "C'mon, I got you a booth." She led Logan to the back of the restaurant. She caught Morgan's look in between and nearly rolled her eyes when she saw the woman wiggle her eyebrows with a mischievous smile. Marie wanted to keep talking to Logan about his day, but the rest of her tables seemed to all need her at once, so she regretfully smiled and told him she'd back for his order.

Marie's tables were slowly dwindling away with the night; she sighed happily as she collected the tips from the tables, glad she wore a little lipstick today. Once she served Logan his steak, potatoes, and beer, she was about to start cleaning her tables when Cleo approached Marie.

"Hey, could you please help me with a couple tables?" Cleo asked. Sweat clung to her hairline and brows and her eyes were already drooping from exhaustion. Marie was about to smile and say "of course" before Cleo gestured to the group of men she'd been listening to earlier.

"I get half the tips," Marie said blandly. She wasn't usually this forceful when it came to helping other tables, but the numerous pitchers and bottles of beer scattered over their messy table almost made her want to ask for the whole amount.

Marie grabbed a tray from the front and put on her best smile approaching the table. "Hi, I'll clear this up for you."

"Hi, sweetheart, I didn't know a pretty little thing like you worked here," the man on her left jeered.

Marie smiled thinly and uncomfortably but didn't say anything. She stacked the plates as neatly as she could before balancing it on her tray. "I'll be right back with your bill."

"Aw, come on now, darlin' where are you going? Come sit with us." The man to her left smacked her butt and left his hand there. Stricken, Marie's mind automatically went to that night outside the bar where she encountered Jeremey and she began to panic. The man suddenly yelped and drew his hand back from her behind and yelled, "She shocked me!" He looked up at her, eyes wide and livid.

Marie started to back away and from the corner of her eye she could see an angry Wolverine getting up and stalking over. "Where do you think you're going –" The man suddenly grabbed Marie's arm, his fingers clenching around the space just above where her glove ended.

And it was like Marie's body went on autopilot. She dropped the tray with a loud clatter and twisted around to grab the man's wrist and yank him down so that his body was flat on the table. She pulled his arm high up behind is back while his friends stood up in disbelief.

She let go of the man, breathing hard, and backed away. Morgan stormed in from the other side of the diner and demanded the men leave before she called the police. She heard Cleo and Sara's consolations and the feel of Logan's large hands sliding onto her shoulders, but it felt like her she was surrounding by a thick padding of cotton.

Marie stared at the men who were filing out of the diner, the one that grabbed her looking no more than a little sore. He touched her…and he didn't die.

* * *

The air outside was cool but not uncomfortably so. Marie's cotton shirt did more than enough to keep her warm from the breeze that came in through the open window of her dusty blue truck. Morgan had allowed her to leave early, despite the hectic evening, claiming she didn't want Marie to overexert herself. Logan had insisted on driving her home, but she refused, needing time to think about what just happened. Her mind was in shambles.

 _Well, what_ did _just happen?_

First, the man touched her skin -she _knew_ he did. Yet, he was completely alright.

Second, there was no way she knew that move. She knew how to swing a bat, alright, but she did not know how to restrain a grown man twice her size. That was more Cody's expertise….

Marie glanced quickly to the passenger seat where Cody sat with one foot moving restlessly against his knee. _You took over my body,_ she thought in horror. _That's why my mutation didn't work on him._

Cody shrugged, a sad look on his face. _"I didn't do it on purpose. You just kind of…stepped back. It was like you left a seat wide open for me and…I was drawn to it. It was like you were telling me to do it."_ He uncrossed his legs and stretched it into the footwell before crossing it again uncomfortably. When Marie's silence drew on, he said, _"I can feel that you're scared. Don't be. I'd never do it without your permission."_ He paused for a long moment. " _At least we're one step closer to figuring out how your mutation works. No offense, babe, but you would not have been physically strong enough to take down that guy at the diner. You used my knowledge of wrestling and my 'physical power' if you will to fight him. Now, imagine you absorbed some of that Logan guy -I saw your memories of him fighting -you'd be so strong-"_

"No," Marie said aloud. Cody immediately vanished from the seat.

Marie remained silent all the way back to the motel.

* * *

Logan stood up the moment Marie entered the motel room, rushing towards her. He looked at her and she felt like she was being scrutinized from the roots of her hair to her toes, breathing hard, mouth bright red, and dressed in the ugly yellow uniform. Marie looked at him, ready to apologize for making him worried -if he _had_ been worried but couldn't get a word out looking at his eyes gone dark. He stared at her for a while until Marie became self-conscious and stuttered, "W-what?" It seemed to snap him out of it.

"You told me your skin was poison," he said curly. He turned away from her and ran a rough hand through his hair.

"What?" she repeated dumbly.

"I get it; you've seen some shit getting up here." Logan turned around and glared at her. "But you don't have to _lie_ to me to stay with me. I'm not going to hurt you, I'm not going to touch you."

Marie drew her eyebrows together in confusion until the realization dawned on her. He had seen the man touch her arm too. "Logan, I'm not lying –"

"Did you think I was going to just throw you out just because you aren't a mutant? Do you think I give a fuck about that?" Logan seethed. Marie's mouth shut tightly at the sound of his voice. She'd never seen him like this. His anger was usually misplaced and nonthreatening and but _this_ …she was actually afraid.

"You would have," Marie countered, angrily. "You almost did when we first met."

 _"_ _Marie, calm down,"_ Cody said beside her.

"Shut up," she told him. "Just go away right now."

Logan's jaw set in anger. He grabbed his jacket without another word and slammed the door behind him.

Marie groaned in frustration and fell back on to her bed, the heel of her hands pressing into her eyes as if it would help push the tears right back up. _I'm going crazy_. How had this day gone completely south in just a few minutes? Tonight was supposed to be her chance to fix things between her and Logan but she only managed to make things worse.

She sniffled juicily and sat up after a few minutes. She peeked outside the window, but Logan's motorcycle was nowhere to be seen. He probably wouldn't come back till she was asleep like he had done all week. Sighing loudly, she went to the bathroom and took a long hot shower.

She finally emerged from the steaming bathroom after an hour, feeling a little bit more relaxed. She glanced at the small coffee table by the door and saw the newspaper still rolled up in the rubber band. Logan must have not had the time to open it and separate the pages for them like he usually did every day. She sat on the edge of her bed and pulled off the rubber band, hissing when it snapped at her palm, and unrolled it to read the front page.

 _Couple found dead in home. Animal…or mutant attack?_

Marie's breath shook, and her hands tremored violently.

" _Travis and Heather Hudson were both found dead in their 10-acre property. Officials are currently calling it an animal attack but have strong suspicions of foul play. According to neighbor Arnold Murphy, two strangers were found on the shared grazing property and showed strong support towards mutant-kind. Murphy is currently being interrogated to rule out a possible hate-crime._

 _An insider source has reported that Travis Hudson was found downstairs heavily mutilated while his wife was found upstairs in the master bedroom. Heather Hudson was said to be still alive when medical care arrived. Both victims were found by their only son Trevor Hudson early in the day. National Post has contacted Trevor Hudson but he has no comment."_

Marie remembered the two mutants that attacked her and Logan –the fierce claws that had been able to pick up a large man as Logan in the air and throw him around…. Her body filled with panic and dread.

A chill spread through her bones, crystals forming in her joints. Her head felt as if it could burst from the pain. The tips of her fingers tingled, and the sensation spread throughout her body –every inch of her skin felt like it was burning from the cold. A blue hue surrounded her body and the sound of loud crackles reached her ears. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head. She opened her mouth to scream for help, but it only made things worse. She heard bulbs and glass shatter and the sound of wood snapping. Vaguely, she heard her name being called out, but it was as if she had a thick woolen scarf wrapped around her head. She felt something warm and hard wrap around her, squeezing her tightly. It made the intense tingling feel stronger –she thought her skin would melt off. Suddenly, a sharp pain erupted from her chest and abdomen and all the sensations except for the mind-numbing pain left her. Her eyes focused again, and she saw Logan in front of her, bloodied and in shock with pain etched into his face. She looked down at her chest to see his claws retracting from her flesh, covered in blood. They both let out an anguished groan before collapsing onto the floor.

* * *

A/N: This chapter was so difficult to write for some reason. Thank you for your patience and please leave a review to share your thoughts.


	11. Aftermath

Chapter 11

Marie woke up naked, her back arched on a cold metal table with a block underneath her head. A bright light shone so brightly over her body she thought she might be blinded by it. Well, that wasn't completely true. She could make out millions of dust particles in the air. The small movement of a baby cockroach from across the room caught her eye as it crawled quickly through a crack in the floor. She could smell the clean, sterile scent of antiseptics and iodine and hear the deafening sound of what sounded like a cart rolling down a long hallway. The thundering noise by the clunking air conditioner seemed loud enough to make her ears burst.

Every cell, every _fiber_ in her body told her one thing: sh _e_ needed to get out of here.

Her movement on the metal bed sent a spike of pain through her abdomen. She carefully lifted her head to check the severity of her wound only to see her naked torso covered with blood, the dermis and muscles of her chest cut open to reveal blood-coated ribs before her skin folded back and sewed itself together until all that was left was a bright red line.

A surprised sob escaped her lips as she gingerly lifted her hand to touch the red scar in the middle of her chest. There was no pain. Her fingers trailed down her skin to the several faded, pink scars littered over the center of her abdomen. Confusion built up inside her as she softly touched the scars, flinching when she expected the pain to erupt over her body again. _Nothing_.

She squeezed her eyes shut when she felt a piercing headache begin. _She watched the hands –Logan's hands? –in horror as the two fists slammed blades into her body._

Marie let out a low, pained groan. _What was that?_ Panic overwhelmed her.

With shaky legs, she rolled herself off the metal table to the floor, her feet slapping loudly on the linoleum. She glanced around the room and saw her t-shirt and pajama pants neatly folded but with lengthwise cuts through them. A white lab coat peeked out from behind the only door in the cold room. Without hesitation, she slipped on the coat and buttoned it before exiting the room with her sneakers and gloves.

The hallway was brightly lit, to the point where she had to put the heel of her hands to her eyes to stop the pain, but once she got control of herself, she noticed it was empty.

 _She looked up to see her own body, frozen in midair, eyes glowing a light blue, mouth wide open to scream but no sound escaping it, the blue light filling her open mouth as well. Her long hair floated in the air, slowing waving through a thick layer of static and her knees hovering slightly above the edge of the mattress. Electricity surrounded her body like a shield. Her hands were on the body she looked through and pain surged through that body until a roar erupted from its mouth and blades from its knuckles till it sank deep into her middle._

The hallway tilted, and her body slammed against one wall with brute force. With shaky hands, she steadied herself and searched along the wall to walk forward. It felt like she was scaling along the wall for hours -the hallway didn't seem to end. Eventually, she turned a corner and passed an empty security desk and fluorescent lights that flickered when she walked by until she pushed open the front doors of the small building into darkness.

Despite the questions swirling around in her head, she knew the answers to most of them. The surge of memories felt too familiar for her to _not_ know. She bit her lip hard to stop a sob from escaping her lips. She had looked through Logan's eyes. She now wondered if he was still alive.

She walked along the side of the road for almost thirty minutes, her senses taking in the surroundings in micro speeds. Her brain already mapped out the geography around her. At first, every loose pebble and the rough, crumbling asphalt irritated the bottom of her foot, but it was like her body understood the uncomfortable feeling until the soles of her feet felt tough like she was wearing an extra layer beneath her feet. It wasn't until another fifteen minutes till she began to recognize the familiar buildings of Kindersley like the small but well-equipped recreational center and the small grocers next to it. It meant that the motel she and Logan had stayed at wasn't too far.

Crickets and cicadas sang to her the rest of the way home and the squeaks of hunting bats squeaked so loudly she thought they were right at her ear. She crossed her arms tightly around her middle and walked faster.

Every time she blinked, her mind transported her to frightening places -dark, cold and metallic, the taste of blood in her mouth from biting her tongue. _No_. It wasn't her blood or her tongue. _Logan_ 's _._ She could hear him roar in his head, banging at the walls in her brain and the walls in his memories. A few times, his voice was so loud she couldn't remember who she even was. Logan. _Logan._

She almost cried out in relief when she saw the orange lights of the motel in the distance. Her feet were sore, and she could still feel the phantom pain of the cuts on her chest. She stumbled into the empty motel lobby and furiously tapped at the silver bell on the front counter.

A sleepy twenty-something stepped out of the back office in the midst of a heavy yawn. "How can I help- Holy shit are you okay?" Marie had not spoken more than a few words to the receptionist since they first arrived at the motel.

"Yeah…why?"

The woman looked around her as if she was waiting for cameras to poke out to admit it was all a prank. "Are you serious? Your boyfriend stabbed you and took off and I saw them take you away in a stretcher." She glanced at Marie from head to toe. "Are you not wearing pants?"

"Can I please just get a spare key to my room?" Marie snapped, holding her hand out impatiently.

"Uh, I mean sure I guess. You guys paid till the end of the month but…like, the cops were all over your room. Do you _want_ to go back in there?" The woman grimaced dramatically, her opinion on the matter obvious.

Marie straightened her fingers and shook her hand a little to gesture for the keys. She really wasn't in the mood to talk to her.

The room was in complete shambles. The bed she had sat on was ripped to shreds with three distinct claw marks slashing through the fabrics. At the foot of the bed, there was a large, dark stain on the blue carpet that traveled up the ripped sheets to the center of the bed. She stared at the bloodstains for a while before stepping over more crime scene markers and crashing into the second bed -Logan's bed -and succumbing to her exhaustion.

* * *

Her dreams were virulent with anger and violence.

Marie scrambled out of bed and immediately fell to the floor. Her legs felt so weak. How long had she been sleeping? She crawled toward the foot of the bed before using the frame to pull herself up on her feet.

She peered through the curtains, hissing when her eyes reacted to the bright sunlight. She glanced at the digital clock on the bedside table: 7:23AM. Marie plopped down next to the window and groaned. A low growl emitted from her stomach. When was Logan going to come back?

 _"He's not,"_ Cody said.

"Cody, not now," she grumbled. "He'll be back. He had to get away before the cops came. But they're gone now. He'll be here soon."

Cody's expression became something of grave concern " _Babe…who are you trying to kid? You died last night. He's not going to know you're here, alive and walking."_

Marie laughed. A hysterical, nervous laugh. "I didn't _die_." When Cody didn't reply to this, she repeated, more affirmative, "I didn't die." The memory of Logan's claws sinking into her flesh and of waking up on the autopsy table appeared. "Shit."

She sat there in silence for some time until a question burning on the back of her mind caught Cody's attention. He, of course, knew what she would ask before she even said it aloud. She turned to face where she visualized Cody sat. "What even happened last night? I was being shocked by _something_ …Logan tried to help me, he got shocked too, he attacked me…." _He attacked me_. Marie's heart sunk at those words. Of course, she knew it was because the electricity was hurting him, and hadn't he told her before that the blades come out when he thinks there's danger? She _knew_ but the fact that he used it on her made her feel pretty low.

 _"You attacked him too,"_ Cody justified. _"You touched him right before you died."_ There he says it again, Marie thought, like it was the most normal thing to say. " _But back to the shock thing -I think we know exactly what you took from Jeremy Smith_. _But, you clearly didn't hold onto him long enough. I can't feel him anywhere in here. I think you used his mutation up._ "

Marie's eyes widened. "Jeremy was a mutant? And _used him up_? Like a car battery?"

Cody shrugged. " _What's the other explanation? He's the only other person we've touched, and I know_ I'm _not a mutant._ "

They both shuddered at the thought that such a violent man had so much power within him.

" _At least we know one more thing about our abilities_ ," Cody continued. _"It's either a one-time go with mutant powers or it matters how long you touch them. Either way, we gotta be careful how we use Wolverine."_

Marie didn't like the way he said that. " _We_ " and _"our_ " as if this was _his_ body too. It was selfish of her to think considering what she had done to him and leaving him in god knows what state in Meridian. But it was clear to her that he had the ability to take over her body at certain times -granted, they were times when she felt she was in danger -but it felt like a ginormous red flag.

"He didn't even know he was a mutant -I mean he tried to use a knife on me of all things! Is that even possible to not know?"

" _Well, let's be glad he didn't know. We might not be here._ "

Marie bristled at his use of the word "we" again and her expression became sour. The glimmer of Cody looked at her quizzically and Marie suddenly realized she could hide things from him. She imagined a wall between her thoughts and him. Cody's image flickered a couple times before he disappeared, looking hurt.

She sighed and saw the crumpled-up newspaper at the foot of her bloody bed. She picked it up and looked at the article again, her heart clenching with sadness. _Both victims were found by their only son Trevor Hudson early in the day._ She bit her thumbnail anxiously. It was no coincidence, then, that she already met a Trevor here who rubbed her the wrong way. But why was he _here_ of all places? He should be after those two crazies that attack them and destroyed their camper.

She couldn't even begin to imagine that a sweet couple she had stayed with only a few short weeks ago were dead. All because of Logan and her. Those mutants that killed the Hudsons were after _them_ and _they_ put that couple in the line of fire.

Marie balled up the page and threw it against the wall and cried till she couldn't anymore.

* * *

The phone rang three times that day.

Marie stood next to it while it the first time, shifting from one foot to the other debating whether she should pick it up. It had to be Morgan. Who else would it be? Marie was scheduled the first shift with Sheila. Morgan must have been fuming at the other end of the phone. As soon as Logan returned, they would be off to their next destination, that much was clear. Though, she did feel a twinge of regret about leaving behind someone she considered a friend.

The second time the phone rang, she felt Wolverine rouse in her head. It was a sudden shift, similar to how it felt when Cody first emerged, like someone else was in the room with her. His presence in her head felt nothing like having the actual Logan next to her. With Logan, there was a sense of security and comradery, even when they fought. Whatever was in her head didn't give her that comforting feeling at all. It was anxious and angry and confused all at once and every thought Wolverine had had an impact on Marie's body. She fidgeted and pulled at a pillow on Logan's bed until the phone stopped ringing and she realized that there was a pile of shredded cotton in her hands.

The third phone call came when Marie was curled up in Logan's bed. Her hunger pangs were worse, but she didn't want to risk leaving the hotel in case he came back while she was gone. She already showered and was dressed in her jeans, green coat, gloves and converse, ready to jump out of bed and into the blue truck the second Logan walked in. Marie refused to believe he wouldn't come back.

She lifted her head from the intact pillow after the phone stopped after the fourth ring. _Weird…_ A shuffling outside the door raised the hairs on the back of her neck and Marie hopped out of bed in a nervous delight just as the door opened.

Her heart sank.

"Trevor!" Marie exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

Trevor, wearing a dark jacket and sunglasses, shut the door behind him with a sharp slam and turned the lock. Marie stumbled back, perplexed, but the back of her legs hit the bed. "I heard something happened here last night -that you didn't survive an animal attack or a stabbing or _something_." He pulled off his sunglasses to reveal his green eyes turning black with red rims around the iris. Like camera lenses. "A lot like what happened to my parents."

There was a lump in Marie's throat.

"You have no idea how _easy_ it was to find you two. But that's the thing about being a mutant in this country. I've never had to use my abilities to find _another_ mutant. They were _never_ the enemy." Trevor looked down with a faraway look that Marie remembered Heather having. "Because mutants aren't supposed to hurt mutants."

"Trevor, let me explain. We didn't –" Marie started but Travis cut her off.

"But I knew after seeing what happened to them that it had to be mutants. You two left 'signatures' all over that house as if _I couldn't find you_!" He slammed his fist against the wall. "And you must have made the decision to kill them very swiftly because my mother couldn't even call to tell me that premonition -she…oh God." Trevor stopped talking and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You didn't even give her time to have a premonition. You two are truly monsters."

 _Premonitions_? God, _how many people were mutants_? Marie thought, surprisingly calm at the revelation. Trevor was good at tracking people and Heather had premonitions. _Seemed like literally everyone and their mothers were mutants._ "What are you talking about? We didn't do anything to Travis or Heather. I didn't even know she _was_ a mutant and they didn't know we were either!" _At least it didn't seem like they_ knew. She saw him falter in his step at the mention of his parents' names. The red rims around his irises relaxed momentarily. "They were kind to us -we wouldn't have _ever_ harmed them for anything. I _promise_ you."

Travis looked angry again. "I've seen that man -the one with the claws -oh, I've seen him fight before. He's famous around some parts here. No one else could have done that to their bodies!"

"Listen to me," Marie said desperately. "Right before we got to their house, Logan and I were attacked by two mutants. One of them _could_ have done that to your parents."

"How convenient," he muttered, shaking his head. The red rims constricted again. His nostrils flared.

"Have some mercy, please," she whispered. "We didn't harm your family."

"Did _he_ not have any mercy?" His voice trembled. Marie suddenly saw that despite his stature, Trevor was very young. Maybe even younger than her. A young man who lost both of his parents for no reason. "When he _ripped_ through my mother?"

Marie darted past him through the door and pushed him aside. Before she could take another step into the hallway, she felt him grip tightly on leg. She stumbled and fell, using her arms to break her fall. Trevor used this to his advantage and dragged her back into the room. Marie let out a curdling scream but the impact of her body on the ground minimized the effect, sounding like a choked cry when her body entered back into the motel room. _Did anyone hear her?_

Trevor dragged her further into the room and reached for a blade sheathed on the side of his belt. He used his knees to pin her legs to the ground painfully and his free arm grabbed her wrists. "Don't worry. Your friend will meet you soon." He raised the knife high with a strong grip and brought it down swiftly.

Suddenly, an odd sensation grew inside her and Marie felt herself rushing backwards in her own mind a million miles per hour only feeling her body move. Without her own volition, her body twisted around on the ground, her arm loose from his grim reaching out quickly to grab Trevor's shirt from the back and yank him down to the floor with her. Her legs swung over his body, pinning his front down while her left arm put him in a choke hold. Her right reached from behind to touch his face. Trevor yelped beneath her, but his body immediately went from stiff to relaxed. Marie's body waited on top of him, her hand hovering over his face in case he got up again, until she was absolutely sure he passed out. Once she heard his calm, deep breaths, her body immediately got up, grabbed the ready backpack, and ran outside to her dusty blue truck.

She pushed Cody's presence to the back of her mind as far as she could, building more and more walls until she could barely feel him anymore. Marie wanted to scream out her frustration and punch something repeatedly until the built-up pressure in her body escaped.

Marie couldn't stop the sobs from hacking through her chest as she turned on the engine. Cody had used her body _again_ without her permission and this time he had used her abilities. _Her_ body and _her_ abilities. He had no right! Trevor's presence slowly emerged in her mind, confused and angry, screaming to be let out. She swiped angrily at the tears blurring her vision and stepped on the accelerator harder, ready to use her newfound power to find Logan.

* * *

A/N: Let me know what you think. If anything is confusing about the chapter or the story, please review or send me a message. I can re-edit the chapter to make things a little clearer.


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